Online gambling associations protest European Commission decision.
Online gambling association have protested the European Commission's approval of a French proposal to impose an extra levy on online horse-race betting in order to finance horse-racing companies.
EU Gives Go Ahead
As part of its online horse-race betting reforms, France notified the European Commission of a its proposal to impose an additional levy of 8% on all online horse-race betting wagers. It said the revenues from this levy would finance a service to improve and promote horse-breeding.
The Commission opened an investigation into the proposal in 2010, finally deciding this week that the French scheme is compatible with its own regulations. It took the view that by spreading the burden of financing races between the various operators, the measure would allow for fair competition in the online horse-race betting market.
Gambling Bodies Protest
The Remote Gambling Association and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) released a joint press release expressing "concern" about the EC decision. They noted that France proposed the levy in 2010 because of fear that more competition in horserace betting would threaten the sport's revenues, but that revenues have grown steadily since then.
They also noted that levies or parts of levies can only be justifiable if they truly serve common interest objectives, such as veterinary research or treatment, and claimed that by transferring funds from one industry to another would distort competition between sectors and member states (and therefore be liable to legal challenge).
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