Monday, March 26, 2007

German regions have been told by the European Commission to rethink plans to
ban online gambling or face possible legal action, an official at the EU's
executive arm said on Friday. It is the latest clash between Brussels and
European Union countries over the betting industry, which is restricted to
state-owned monopolies in some EU member countries. EU Industry Commissioner
Guenter Verheugen wrote to German regional state governments on Friday,
giving them a month to change a draft treaty on the issue, the EU official
said, confirming an earlier Reuters story. "We asked Germany to reconsider
the total ban on lottery and sports betting on the Internet. We think a
proposed total ban is disproportionate and there are less restrictive
measures, such as mandatory prior registration and strict guarantees on
identification," the Commission official said. Britain and Austria, two
countries with online gaming industries, have challenged the ban.