30.8.2008

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223/26

(Case C-258/08)

(2008/C 223/41)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Ltd and Ladbrokes International Ltd

Respondent: Stichting de Nationale Sporttotalisator

Questions referred

2a. Assuming that national legislation governing gaming policy is compatible with Article 49 EC, is it for the national courts to determine, on every occasion on which they apply that legislation in practice in an actual case, whether the measure to be imposed, such as an order that a particular website be made inaccessible to residents of the Member State concerned by means of software designed for that purpose, in order to prevent them from participating in the games of chance offered thereon, in itself and as such satisfies the condition, in the specific circumstances of the case, that it should actually serve the objectives which might justify the national legislation in question, and whether the restriction resulting from that legislation and its application on the freedom to provide services is not disproportionate in the light of those objectives?

2b. In answering Question 2a, does it make any difference if the measure to be implemented is not ordered and imposed in the context of the application of the national legislation by the authorities, but in the context of a civil action in which an organiser of games of chance operating with the required licence requests imposition of the measure on the ground that an unlawful act has been committed in its regard under civil law, inasmuch as the opposing party contravened the national legislation in question, thereby gaining an unfair advantage over the party operating with the required licence?

3. Should Article 49 EC be interpreted in such a way that the application of that article results in the competent authority of a Member State being unable, on the basis of the closed licensing system that exists in that State for the provision of gaming services, to prohibit a service provider which has already been granted a licence in another Member State for the online provision of such services from also offering those services online in the first Member State?