The General Court of the European Union recently upheld the European Commission’s decision confirming that the Danish government’s lower tax rate for online gambling does comply with EU state-aid rules. The Court found that the applicants in the cases of Dansk Automat Brancheforening v. Commission & Royal Scandinavian Casino Århus v Commission did not prove that they were directly and individually affected by the tax measure, paving the way for Member States to adopt different tax rates for online gambling in order to compete in the international online gambling market.
The Court specifically ruled on the issue of whether the applicants, both land-based gambling operators, were affected by the Commission’s decision. In each case, the Court concluded:
“The applicant is therefore not individually concerned by the contested decision,” meaning that implementing an internationally competitive tax structure, that will ensure the public policy objectives of the Danish Gambling Act 2012, clearly complies with EU law.
Clive Hawkswood, chief executive officer of the London-based Remote Gambling Association, said, “It is very encouraging to see that the EU judicial body upholds the Commission’s decision which recognizes that tax regimes for online gambling cannot be considered in isolation and have to be viewed within the context of international competition. Although this decision relates solely to tax, we believe that a similar rationale should apply across the board to all aspects of online gambling regulations and that this can be done without undermining very legitimate public policy objectives, such as safeguarding consumers and keeping gambling crime-free. This ruling will undoubtedly help us make the case for workable and competitive licensing regimes as more and more EU Member States open and regulate their online gambling markets.”
