RGA warns Greece over OPAP online monopoly
Lobby group claims failure to allow operators to receive egaming licence before 2020 is in breach of EU law.
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has warned the Greek government that its plans to extend OPAP’s land-based monopoly to online gaming products would breach EU law.
In a complaint to the European Commission, the RGA highlights that while the Greek Gambling Act, first drafted in 2011, allows for the licensing of egaming operators, the Ministerial Decisions and administrative measures undertaken prevent any operator other than OPAP from being granted a full licence.
State-owned OPAP currently holds a monopoly across all offline betting products in Greece including sports betting, however plans to offer the operator exclusivity for online gaming until 2020 were revealed in December when a bill submitted by the Ministry of Finance was leaked.
Under the proposed law, the interim licences of the 24 operators that paid taxes to the regulator in order to continue operating until the official licensing process began would be cancelled.
The RGA claims that Greece’s failure to implement fully the Gambling Law of 2011 means operators that currently have licences in other EU Member States will not be able to apply for licences in Greece until 2020 at the earliest.
Clive Hawkswood, CEO of the RGA said in a statement: “We believe that the failure to offer licences for online gambling is not because of any concerns about consumer protection but is rather to ensure that from the privatisation of OPAP the Greek government gets the highest possible price for its 33% shareholding. Again and again the Greek Government has failed to comply with basic EU law.
“Until the Hellenic Republic complies fully with EU law, the Greek people will not get the benefits of a regulated and competitive market; the Government will miss out on long term revenues; and legitimate online gambling operators will be excluded from the market.”
OPAP’s monopoly has come under uincreasing pressure, notably from the RGA and its members. In January Greek gambling operator OPAP saw its share price fall by 11% after its sports betting and games of chance monopoly was ruled illegal by the European Union’s highest court.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the Greek government was in breach of EU law, which prohibits national rules granting exclusive rights to a single operator and reducing the number of gambling options available to residents. In a case filed by Stanleybet, William Hill and Sportingbet “ all of which have or had a presence in the Greek market “ the Court ruled that the legislation enacted to justify OPAP’s expansion and the public promotion of its products went “far beyond” what is necessary to channel consumers towards the controlled provision of gambling services.
Meanwhile the sale of the government’s 33% stake in OPAP remains ongoing, with final bids expected next month. Among the remaining potential suitors is a consortium involving Playtech and German gaming machine manufacturer Gauselmann, and Fosun International, a Chinese business conglomerate with interests in and pharmaceuticals, property, steel, and mining.
The RGA has previously written to the organisations responsible for the sale of Greece’s stake in monopoly operator OPAP in order to highlight the legal complaints lodged with the European Commission concerning the country’s “unfair and unworkable” egaming laws.