The European Union doesn’t always side with freedom, or capitalism for that matter, so a recent decision by the EU shouldn’t come as a surprise. The EU’s highest court ruled that Portugal’s state-run monopoly of online gambling is legal. Their reason was that the country controls the entire market as a way to combat illegal gambling. Right, if you let just anyone run the business, who knows what they will do?

The European Union court, located in Luxembourg, heard appeals from online casinos Liga and Bwin, who were fined for operating within the Portuguese market controlled by the state-run monopoly. The EU has rules that ensure companies can provide products and services across EU borders. According to the court, though, such freedom of commerce can be restricted if the public interest is at stake. According to the court, “games of chance involve a high risk of criminal activity or fraud” and online gambling has a “different and more substantial risk of fraud compared with traditional markets for such games.”

The ruling opens the door for other countries within the EU to monopolize online gambling and crowd other online casinos out of the market. Currently, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece are involved in court disputes regarding their online gambling monopolies. In addition, the same ruling could be used for other products that can be seen as affecting public interest. Maybe soon Germany will have a monopoly on beer. After all, if you let just anyone sell beer, just think of the potential for criminal activity. The possibilities are wide open. It’s a bad time to own a business in the EU. Actually, come to think of it, it’s a bad time to be in the EU at all, for a variety of reasons.

Tags: Bwin, EU, European Union, Liga, monopoly, online gambling

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