McCreevy picks up pace in scrutiny of gambling cases

Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will next week (11 December) review cases against countries that are infringing EU gambling rules, in a response to calls to accelerate legal proceedings.

The review is aimed at closing "dead wood cases" and "taking other cases forward", according to an official from the European Commission. It follows closely on the heels of a letter sent last month by Freddy Blak, a former Danish MEP, to McCreevy and Mariann Fischer Boel, Denmark’s European commissioner.

Blak complained about Denmark’s restrictive laws four years ago while still an MEP, sparking legal action from the European Commission. The Danish case is the longest-running of all the Commission’s gambling proceedings.

Last week, Swedish centre-right MEP Christofer Fjellner asked McCreevy why legal proceedings as a whole were taking so long. "These are really blunt infringements of EU legislation," he said. "I would say every day the Commission is delaying this. They are not living up to their obligations as guardians of the treaty."

The Commission has so far launched legal action against ten countries. Reasoned opinions have been sent to five countries: Denmark, Finland, Hungary, France and Sweden. Letters of formal notice, the final step before court proceedings, have been sent to Greece, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.

A Commission official said: "A response is being prepared to Freddy Blak’s letter. McCreevy is pursuing these cases at the speed set out in the treaties. We take them step by step, but we can’t make it faster than the procedures make it."

Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will next week (11 December) review cases against countries that are infringing EU gambling rules, in a response to calls to accelerate legal proceedings.