“[Those in charge] will do a lot to have us in the regime or want us to be a partner in the country because we are the biggest player there.”
Bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger speaking in Nov on operating under a future German State Treaty licence
as ?agrant abuse of dot.be system is considered by others to represent a protest against what it views as unfair and illegal measures. A groundswell of opinion came to the fore in November last year during the detainment and questioning of bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger in Brussels by local authorities. Ironically, this was after he had given a speech at a responsible gaming day held by lobby group EGBA, where he had stated in his closing comments: “At this juncture, the reactivation of infringements and complaints against Member States who ?out EU law is an essential step forward.” Industry CEOs join forces The move, described by Koen Platteau, partner with law ?rm Olswang, as “a new low in the relationship between the Belgian authorities and bwin.party”, sparked a backlash whereby representatives of 12 leading European operators sent an open letter to EC Commissioner Michel Barnier. This response demonstrates the widespread opposition and identi?es it as calling into question the principle of Belgian legislation within a wider context, coming, as it does, from a number of operators without a Belgian presence as well as those ?ghting being blacklisted. Among those to put his name to the letter is BetVictor CEO Michael Carlton. “The problem is, does the EU law apply, or does it not? Unless the EC acts now and sorts things out then some markets will remain closed and it will be difficult to recover the position there,” he explains. “We are at a crossroads and it’s affecting the whole industry – it’s supported by more than just the CEOs who signed the letter,” he adds. Carlton suggests: “There are two issues at play here – one is the arrest of Norbert in Belgium and the other is what’s happening in Greece and Germany.” Lobby group the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which has been particularly vocal in its calls for the EU to bare its teeth, has maintained that the attacks on Belgium’s proposals should not be seen to signify a lack of attention being paid to issues with other purportedly non-compliant markets. In the past, the RGA has spoken out about what it deems “unfair” Greek proposals, with calls to expel all offshore operators from the market just the tip of the iceberg, but the organisation’s chief executive Clive Hawkswood is well aware of the limitations of its powers even with a membership comprising 30 leading operators and service providers. “One of the frustrations is there is a limit to what we can do, which is centred around getting the EC to take meaningful action – November’s letter demonstrates the strength of feeling but, less publicly, there are meetings with officials and we’re trying to get them to see some of this through,” he explains. “We were patient throughout the Green Paper process but that is done and dusted now and we need them to act.”
“...WHAT MAY BE VIEWED BY SOME AS FLAGRANT ABUSE OF DOT.BE SYSTEM IS CONSIDERED BY OTHERS TO REPRESENT A PROTEST AGAINST WHAT IT VIEWS AS UNFAIR AND ILLEGAL MEASURES”
licence in January, the operator’s dot.com equivalent continued to serve the country and was blacklisted in May, with Naessens asserting that sanctions would be imposed “if they continue sending emails to players indicating on which other illegal websites of Bwin they still can gamble”. The operator subsequently moved to launch an appeal against its blacklisting, but this was rejected by the Belgian courts and a follow-up legal challenge is ongoing at the time of writing. At the time the appeal was thrown out, Bart Heynickx, a litigation specialist with ALTIUS (the law ?rm representing the Belgian government), said: “Had the court granted [bwin.party’s] request, it would have been astonishing and would have been a slippery slope leading to all sorts of abuses. Those who choose to operate out ??????????????????????????????????????t????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????M???????????????%??????????????????????????()A???9????????????????? ?e????????????()???????????????((??((0