Commissie waarschuwt Italië regels wedden op paardenrennen in te voeren (en)
The European Commission has decided, under Article 228 of the EC Treaty, to send a letter of formal notice to Italy requesting it to comply immediately with a 2007 European Court of Justice judgement concerning the award of concessions for horse-race betting services, without tender procedure.
On 13 September 2007, the European Court of Justice ruled in case C-260/04 that, by renewing 329 concessions for horse-race betting operations without inviting any competing bids, the Italian Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 43 and 49 of EC Treaty and, in particular, had infringed the general principle of transparency and the obligation to ensure a sufficient degree of advertising.
The Commission considers that the measures taken until now by the Italian authorities are not sufficient to comply with the judgement of the Court. First, although the Commission welcomes the new legislation adopted by the Italian authorities in order to open up to competition the market of sports betting services, it notes that the concessions illegally awarded are still in force. Second, the Italian authorities announced that those concessions will be reattributed through a competitive procedure. However, this measure has not yet been adopted. The Commission therefore decided to send a letter of formal notice to Italy. If the Italian authorities still do not comply, the Commission will send a reasoned opinion to the Italian government and, ultimately, can ask the Court to impose a daily fine.
The latest information on infringement proceedings concerning all Member States can be found at: