MAGAZINE OF THE EUROPEAN LOTTERIES, 2011, SEPTEMBER ...

Androulla Vassiliou (1 st rank, 6 th from left), Commissioner in charge of Sport, with the participants of the high-level structured dialogue on sport
HEARING AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:
EL PRESIDENT FRIEDRICH STICKLER
ADDRESSES MEMBERS OF THE IMCO COMMITTEE
On 15 June 2011, the European Parliament held a public
hearing on on-line gambling. The hearing took
place in the framework of the European Parliament’s
deliberations on the European Commission’s Green
Paper on on-line gambling. The European Lotteries
was one of only two gambling operators associations
invited to present its views at this hearing.
In his presentation, Friedrich Stickler outlined the
EL guiding principles for a sustainable gambling
policy: solidarity, subsidiarity, integrity and precaution.
Focusing on integrity in particular, he stressed
the need for full legal compliance and strict enforcement,
highlighting that countries should not give licences
to operators who operate illegally in another
country of the European Union.
The hearing was well attended by the key Members
of the European Parliament who are playing an active
role in the debate on the Green Paper as well as
a large number of stakeholders.
EU SPORTS COUNCIL: EL PARTICIPATES IN HIGH-
LEVEL STRUCTURED DIALOGUE ON SPORT
EL, represented by its President Friedrich Stickler,
was invited to attend a high-level meeting between
key EU policy-makers and sport stakeholders which
took place in Brussels on 20 May 2011. The highlevel
meeting preceded the important EU Sports
Council, at which the sports ministers of the EU
Member States adopted a three-year work plan on
sport, which defines the sustainable financing of
grassroots sport and the integrity of sport as two of
the top three priorities until 2014.
In his intervention, Friedrich Stickler stressed the
great benefit that European sport has drawn for over
50 years from the public benefit model for gambling
and betting that EL Members stand for and the sport
funding resulting from it. He noted that this model
is being challenged by hundreds of online gambling
companies which pursue purely commercial interests
and ignore the interests of sport.
In the subsequent debate on sport-related aspects
of online betting, EU sport ministers expressed their
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
concern about the “invasion of illegal betting sites”
defying national laws, control and taxation and
about the increase of match-fixing incidents and
other manipulations of sport competitions associated
with betting.
EL President Stickler also participated in a follow-up
debate on online betting between the highest level
sport officials from the Member States at a Sports
Directors meeting in Gödöllö (Hungary) on 27 June.
As in his presentation to the Members of the European
Parliament’s IMCO committee, he outlined to
the Sports Directors the EL guiding principles for a
sustainable gambling policy: solidarity, subsidiarity,
integrity and precaution. Focusing on integrity in
particular, he stressed the need for full legal compliance
and strict enforcement, highlighting that
countries should not give licences to operators who
operate illegally in another country of the European
Union.
EL and “Sport et Citoyenneté” roundtable discussion
with MEP Santiago Fisas-Ayxela
On 24 May 2011, EL and the think tank “Sport et Citoyenneté”
jointly organised a roundtable discussion
on the integrity of sport and the financing of
grassroots sport. The roundtable took place inside
the European Parliament and was attended by a
select group of EU policy makers and stakeholders
working closely on the issue.
The key speaker at the workshop was MEP Santiago
Fisas-Ayxela, the Member of the European Parliament
leading on the European Parliament’s report
on the European Commission’s Sport strategy. President
Stickler presented the EL priorities on the
dossier, stressing the contributions lotteries make
to sport and the importance of preserving the integrity
of sport, addressing also the problems linked
to a potential sports owners right. The roundtable
was moderated by the Vice-President of “Sport et
Citoyenneté”, Vincent Chaudel. The independent
expert Alexandre Husting, a member of the scientific
committee of “Sport et Citoyenneté”, contributed
his expert views on the topic.
37 NEWS 37 SEPTEMBER 2011