Government rejection of Ladbrokes' gaming licence application upheld by Supreme Administrative Court

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According to a ruling handed down on Tuesday by the Supreme Administrative Court (KHO), the government had a legal right to reject the application by gaming company Ladbrokes for a licence to arrange betting and gaming operations in Finland.
      The government decision was taken on the basis that a corresponding licence had already been awarded to Oy Veikkaus Ab, the state-owned national lottery and gaming company, and according to the 2002 Act on Gaming, only one such licence can be in effect at any one time.
     
This was the second time the Ladbrokes application has been rebuffed. The company first sought a licence in 2003, but the government, via the Ministry of the Interior, rejected the proposal in 2004. A year later, the Court overturned the government decision and ordered it to be reconsidered, as the initial rejection was based simply on an interpretation of the Gaming Act, and not on the Ladbrokes' contention that the maintenance of a gaming monopoly was in contravention of EU rules on the free movement of services.
      A second application was rejected in November 2005, and now KHO has responded to the appeal against this decision. The Court believes that the monopoly on gaming activities based on the Act on Gaming is in line with EU legislation, and bases its decision on European Court of Justice rulings. These have stated that a national monopoly arrangement is acceptable when it is based on grounds of the public interest and is non-discriminatory.
     
KHO nevertheless noted that there are problems with Veikkaus operations, in particular with the marketing and product development activities of the company, which tend to be somewhat at odds with the avowed aim of the legislation to tackle the adverse effects of gambling.
      Veikkaus, whose revenue from operations passes in large measure to the government for redisbursement back to the public purse, has actively marketed its products and services, thereby increasing turnover and indirectly the state's income from gambling.
      The Supreme Administrative Court believes some of these difficulties can be overcome by developing the legislation, for example by raising the age limit for gaming to 18 and ensuring that advertising does not target minors.
      The entire question of a gambling monopoly has been in the air for several years, particularly as Internet gambling has brought betting to computers in all Finnish homes. Ladbrokes has been particularly active in attempting to bring down the Veikkaus monopoly. Some of the links below detail the history of the issue.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  European Union takes issue with sports betting monopoly in Finland (22.3.2007)
  YLE: Finland gets extra time to respond to EU gaming monopoly charges (26.5.2006)
  European Commission taking legal action against Finland over gaming monopoly (5.4.2006)
  UK bookmakers Ladbrokes file complaint against Finnish restrictive practices over Internet betting (19.8.2003)
  Wanna bet? Finland´s gaming monopolies are under attack (16.12.2003)

Links:
  Supreme Administrative Court (Wikipedia)
  Veikkaus, briefly in English (link to Annual Report)

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