EU And The Hungarian Gambling Commission
Published: Saturday, February 11, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
EU CHALLENGE FOR HUNGARIAN GAMBLING COMMISSION
Online gambling advertising ban to be revisited
Major UK gambling group Sportingbet is to challenge an anti-advertising ruling by the Hungarian government appointed Gambling Commission in a European Union court.
Hungarian authorities ruled that Sportingbet's advertising in Hungary is illegal because the company is not licenced as a gambling operator in the country, as required by law. In response, Sportingbet argues that any prohibition of its gambling advertising would be illegal because banning a private EU company from performing the same activity as a state-owned company goes against EU principles.
The Hungarian Gambling Commission disputes this with an allegation that there are no uniform regulations on gambling in the EU, and claims it is up to each member state to determine its own rules reagrding the offering of services by foreign companies, even if these are EU members.
