WTO rules against US in Antigua's case

[Richas]

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Trust me on this one... EU is already so entangled with the US on issues ranging from farm subsidies, biotech agriculture, to frigging bananas, there is virtually no chance EU will expend energy on internet gambling. In truth, I don't think I want the EU to get involved because everything the EU brings up in the WTO seems to get nowhere at all.

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Given that at Davos the US has just agreed to cut farming subsidies to $15bn dollars I wouldn't say the EU always fails to make progress. I do agree that the EU is likely to use Internet Gambling as a lever to get concessions elsewhere but they will want to spend energy on it precisely for this reason.

[BluffTHIS!]

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Furthermore, this actually might have the opposite effect of what we might expect... if they want to keep UIGEA on teh books while complying with WTO ruling, the simplest solution would be to simply enforce it harder... effectively prohibiting online gambling of any kind. Which, frankly, is the route the DoJ seems intent on taking.

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grizy,

They have to buck the horse racing interests first, and the B&M gaming interests which would like to expand into online gambling second. Furthermore it is clear that the DoJ can't do anything against the horse racing interests, as the IUGEA as well as other legislation makes it clear that horse race wagering is not within the scope of such legislation. So the DoJ would have to seek legislative measures to undo that.

Regarding your views as to what the EU is or is not likely to do, there is another side to the issue, which is internal EU conflicts over the wishes of some member nations to regulate online gaming in a non-free trade manner even within the EU, which is inconsistent with its own laws/policies. So if France and other nations get rebuffed internally in their attempts to allow only online gaming for their citizens by their own companies, then such nations wouldn't seem as likely to allow the EU to sit by on the issue internationally vis-a-vis the US. Of course this is speculation either way, but I would think that within a year of the WTO issuing its formal ruling in a few weeks, we will know whether they will in fact pile on with Antigua.

[Elijah Bailey]

The Eu probably doesn't care much about Antigua. They do care about the billions of dollars disappearing out of the economy due to actions taken by the US. I do not have a link available but a British trade rep has urged the British companies to not turn over IPO documentation in response to the recent subpoenas. He followed that with a recommendation that the US government take a moment to consider their actions. I wish I had the exact wording because it sounded very much like a thinly veiled threat.

[Richas]

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I don't believe that the EU will risk a bitter dispute process by getting involved in this one way or another. I think this could change however if prominent EU citizens start getting thrown in US jails for prolonged periods of time.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/bre...breaking44.htm

This article suggests they will but are not rushing too it.

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"In my view it is probably a restrictive practice, and we might take it up in another fora," EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy told the European Parliament.

The United States was protecting its own gambling industry by stopping foreign companies from entering the online betting sector, Mr McCreevy said.

However, Mr McCreevy said: "It's not my intention to bring forward a harmonised piece of legislation on gambling in the European Union."

Mr McCreevy had declared that the US rules were a "prima facie" case of protectionism and that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was a possible venue for tackling them. However, due to the WTO's protracted negotiations to secure a new world trade agreement, he would not rush to file a complaint.

"It's not something of major momentum," Mr McCreevy said. There have been no face-to-face talks about the issue with Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, he added.

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Maybe contacting Peter Mandelson at the EU and saying you want to use EU based sites would help push it up the priorities list.