Ladbroke gambles on court victory

Date: 08/05/1997

By Leyla Linton

A BATTLE over cross-border betting levies will come under the spotlight again next week when an advocate-general at the European Court of Justice gives his opinion on a long-running legal dispute.

The cases centre on complaints by the UK betting company Ladbroke that arrangements struck between racing companies in France and Belgium amount to state aid and a breach of competition rules.

Ladbroke, which is trying to break into the French market, has brought a series of related cases over the past few years.

It is particularly unhappy that the French Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), set up by racecourse undertakings to organise off-course totalizator betting, has extended its activities to Belgium, with the French and Belgian PMUs agreeing to take bets on races in each other's countries.

Ladbroke complained that the system of levies operating between them meant that France was effectively giving state aid to the Belgian PMU.

After the European Commission had dismissed its complaint in 1993, Ladbroke asked the Court of First Instance to annul the Commission's decision but lost.

The company is now appealing to the ECJ to overrule the Court of First Instance's ruling and annul the Commission's decision.

The Court did, however, rule in Ladbroke's favour in a separate case in which the company challenged the Commission's rejection of its complaint over alleged breaches of EU competition rules and abuse by the PMU of its dominant position.

Both France and the Commission have lodged an appeal with the ECJ against this judgement.

Clive Dennison, managing director of Ladbroke in Europe, said: “The PMU has a monopoly on horse-race betting in France. The French PMU started to try to extend its activities throughout the continent, which we thought was an unfair situation.”

He added that although Ladbroke had lost most of the cases it had brought before the European Courts on this issue, he was hopeful of getting a “reasonable decision” this time.