Member States must not take, facilitate or tolerate measures that would run counter to the achievement of the stated objectives of a given national measure. Thus, restrictions on gaming activities are suitable to achieve their public interest objectives only insofar as those objectives are being pursued “in a consistent and systematic manner”, which involves a complete assessment of the gaming policy of the concerned Member State in respect of the level of players’ protection it has freely chosen to ensure. The “consistency” requirement will apply, first, in regard to the games of chance which are subject to the exclusive right scheme and the way they are being marketed by the monopoly holder and, secondly, in regard to the gaming policy which the national authorities pursue in other sectors of the gambling industry.
Concerning the commercial strategy of the exclusive right holders, the Court noted that there is a certain degree of conflict of interest for all operators, including those that are public or charitable bodies, between the need to increase their income and the objective of reducing gambling opportunities. A public or non-profit-making operator may, like any private operator, be tempted to maximise its income and develop the gambling market, thus undermining the objective of seeking to reduce gambling opportunities. The single operator may be encouraged to increase the income generated by the gambling in order to fulfil public interest objectives more effectively. The allocation of income to those objectives may, moreover, lead to a situation in which it is difficult to forgo the amounts generated by the gambling, the natural tendency being to increase opportunities for gambling and to attract new bettors.
This is particularly relevant in situations where a single operator holds exclusive rights over the organisation of games of chance. That operator is then in a very favourable position to increase, should it so wish, gaming activities.
In this context, the CJEU has underlined that:
“the establishment of a measure as restrictive as a monopoly must be accompanied by a legislative framework suitable for ensuring that the holder of the said monopoly will in fact be able to pursue, in a consistent and systematic manner, the objective thus determined by means of a supply that is quantitatively measured and qualitatively planned by reference to the said objective and subject to strict control by the public authorities.”
On the other hand, the overall national gambling policy of a Member State should also be consistent with the public interest objectives invoked to justify restrictions to free movement. This assessment needs to be made taking into account the game of chance for which the exclusive right/monopoly is provided, and the way in which other types of games of chance are marketed.
If the national legislation is based on more than one legitimate objective, the consistency of the gambling policy must be assessed in relation to each of these legitimate objectives. Moreover, as the objectives pursued may not apply equally to all games of chance covered by the national law in question, it may also be necessary to distinguish between the different games.
The next sections will provide more details of the application of the “consistency” condition in the context of the main general interest objectives of reducing gambling opportunities and combating fraud and crime.
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