The European Commission, continuing its crackdown on violations of the EU Treaty, which forbids countries from prohibiting fair competition in the market sector, has sent a formal request to the governments of The Netherlands and Greece, asking them to remove the restrictions that are currently in place on online gaming.
The European Commission has made their formal requests to block the formation of online gaming monopolies and to destory the monopolies that are already in place. The Netherlands had recently been set to vote on whether to grant a three-year exclusive online gaming license to a government run company, Holland Casinos. The vote had been postponed by the Minister of Justice, and the European Union is warning the Dutch governemnt to cease and desist their efforts to prop up a domestic monopoly on online gaming.
Greece already has a monopoly in place with their gaming group OPAP and have been prohibiting from foreign gaming companies from offering services to Greek citizens. The Greek monopoly has also been extending its tendrils into other countries, hoping to acquire even more profits.
These formal requests constitute final warnings from the European Commission and the two countries have two months to change their laws so that they comply with EU law or they will be taken before the European Court of Justice in Brussels.