The Administrative Law Division of the Council of State ruled 23 March 2011 that the Minister of Justice should have allowed the British Betfair to compete in 2005 for licences under the Betting and Gaming Act in the Netherlands. Betfair, with assistance from Justin Franssen, Irene Scholten-Verheijen, Frank Tolboom and others, submitted an objection and an appeal against the 2005 decision, in order to put Betfair’s case that the Minister had acted contrary to the freedom to provide services that is enshrined in the EC Treaty (now the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). The Council of State ultimately submitted various questions to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which ruled on 3 June 2010, referring the matter back to the Council of State.
Council of State ruling
Betfair, a British publicly listed company, has been attempting since 2003 to qualify for licences under the Betting and Gaming Act (WoK) for providing sports-related prize competitions. These licences were awarded in 2005, without competitive tendering, to De Lotto and SGR. In the opinion of the Council of State the Minister had ‘no justification to award the licences to them, or to extend those licences, without any competitive tendering procedure’. There is no opportunity to appeal against the ruling.
Response of VMW Taxand and Betfair
VMW Taxand is delighted with the ruling. Justin Franssen, head of the Gaming Practice Group says "This is a fine victory for Betfair after years of legal wrangling with the government." Martin Cruddace, Betfair’s Chief Legal & Regulatory Affairs Officer: “We are delighted to have finally obtained this result in the Netherlands. Transparency in licensing is fundamental to the effective regulation of our industry and today’s ruling sends a strong message to other Member States that they can no longer automatically allocate and renew licenses in favour of incumbent operators without an open and fair process.”
New policy on games of chance
The rules follows quickly behind the policy document of the state secretary for Public Safety and Justice, Fred Teeven, in which he announced his proposals for reforming the policy on games of chance. The policy document had already revealed that licences for games of chance were to be awarded in a transparent way.
VMW Taxand
VMW Taxand is an Amsterdam-based firm of attorneys at law, tax lawyers and a notarial practice that cooperate closely. VMW Taxand is the first law firm in the Netherlands to have a specialized and multidisciplinary team that focuses on advisory and litigation services for the national and international gaming sector. Practice group chairman Justin Franssen was honoured in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 with a ‘band 1 ranking’ in the Chambers Global Edition.
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