Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-404"
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"en.20061114.39.2-404"2
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".
Mr President, I thank the Commissioners and my fellow Members for taking the trouble to discuss this topic, which is, after all, an exciting one. We have left gambling and Internet gambling outside of the Services Directive because we do not dare take a decision on it. It still falls within the scope of Articles 43 and 49 of the Treaty and at the moment – as is also evident from the 11 infringement procedures – there is enormous legal uncertainty among the Member States and businesses. How should we tackle it?
I am pleased that the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection has put this oral question, for the problems are, after all, real. There is the problem that on the one hand, it is very lucrative for the Member States in terms of tax revenue, but on other hand, it also brings with it social problems. The main problem, though, is that, if there is no sound legal framework in place within a market where serious money can be made, this opens the floodgates to a huge number of illegal practices in which criminal organisations reign supreme.
I therefore believe that the politicians, and I hope that the Commissioner will agree with me on this, must take up the gauntlet and dare take decisions. We must not surrender ourselves to the very wise judges in Luxembourg who then have the onerous task of biting the bullet. I fear that many more judgments from the European Court of Justice will follow as long as we as politicians do not take the right decisions.
I hope that the Commission and the Council will get there in the end. If not, I hope that Parliament itself will produce an own-initiative report in order to guarantee legal certainty, which is desperately needed given the many problems that exist, including addiction, public health problems, illicit funds, money laundering, and the list goes on. We must solve this with a firm, clear directive on gambling and Internet gambling. I hope that the Commissioner will advise us as to how Parliament should tackle this."@en1
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