Keywords
Summary

Keywords

Freedom to provide services - Restrictions - National legislation reserving for certain bodies the right to take bets on sporting events - Justification - Protection of consumers and maintenance of order in society

(EC Treaty, Art. 59 (now, after amendment, Art. 49 EC))

Summary

$$National legislation which reserves for certain bodies the right to take bets on sporting events and which thus prevents operators in other Member States from taking bets, directly or indirectly, constitutes an obstacle to the freedom to provide services even if it applies without distinction.

However, in so far as such legislation does not entail any discrimination on grounds of nationality, it can be justified where its objectives are to protect consumers and to maintain order in society. Although it does not totally prohibit the taking of bets on sporting events but reserves it for certain bodies under certain circumstances, determination of the scope of the protection which a Member State intends providing in its territory in relation to lotteries and other forms of gambling falls within the margin of appreciation enjoyed by the national authorities. It is for those authorities to appraise whether, in the context of the aim pursued, it is necessary to prohibit activities of that kind, totally or partially, or only to restrict them and to lay down more or less rigorous procedures for controlling them. In those circumstances, the mere fact that a Member State has chosen a system of protection different from that adopted by another Member State cannot affect the appraisal as to the need for and proportionality of the provisions adopted. They must be assessed solely in the light of the objectives pursued by the national authorities of the Member State concerned and of the level of protection which they are intended to ensure.