Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:261
Date: 1999-05-20
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Freedom to provide services
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
Freedom to provide services — Restrictions — National legislation reserving for certain 
bodies the right to take bets on sporting events — Justification — Protection of consumers 
and maintenance of order in society 
(EC Treaty, Art. 59 (now, after amendment, Art. 49 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-67/98 
National legislation which reserves for 
certain bodies the right to take bets on 
sporting events and which thus prevents 
operators in other Member States from 
taking bets, directly or indirectly, constitu­
tes an obstacle to the freedom to provide 
services even if it applies without distinc­
tion. 
However, in so far as such legislation does 
not entail any discrimination on grounds of 
nationality, it can be justified where its 
objectives are to protect consumers and to 
maintain order in society. Although it does 
not totally prohibit the taking of bets on 
sporting events but reserves it for certain 
bodies under certain circumstances, deter­
mination of the scope of the protection 
which a Member State intends providing in 
its territory in relation to lotteries and other 
forms of gambling falls within the margin 
of appreciation enjoyed by the national 
authorities. It is for those authorities to 
appraise whether, in the context of the aim 
pursued, it is necessary to prohibit activities 
of that kind, totally or partially, or only to 
restrict them and to lay down more or less 
rigorous procedures for controlling them. 
In those circumstances, the mere fact that a 
Member State has chosen a system of 
protection different from that adopted by 
another Member State cannot affect the 
appraisal as to the need for and propor­
tionality of the provisions adopted. They 
must be assessed solely in the light of the 
objectives pursued by the national autho­
rities of the Member State concerned and of 
the level of protection which they are 
intended to ensure. 
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