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Greece seems insistent on being hostile toward the gaming industry.  Once again, the European Court of Justice is threatening Greece with serious fines, this time the offence is the Greek ban on slot machines.

Its not yet certain whether Greece will actually be facing another penalty, but there are those that are either out for blood or determined to teach the nation a lesson for its anti gaming policies.  A few years back, Greece outlawed all forms of slot machines in the nation.  Recently, in a Strasbourg court, a chief prosecutor suggested the Greece be hit with a fine to the tune of EURO 2 million.  He also proposed, as a means of encouraging grace to change its policy, that they be charged an additional EURO 32,000 each day.

The problem with Greece legislation is not that it does not allow for gaming, the problem is that their laws are blatant attempts to route out outside competition and protect Greek casino operations.

The previous PASOK government drafted a law back in 2002 that banned electronic gambling.  The law was initially targeted toward thousands of fruit slot machines that emerged in arcades all throughout the country.  Later the law was extended to include all slot machines in public area.  Of course, the only exception was slot machines operating in licensed casinos.

Such protectionist laws are in direct violation of European Union trade laws that permit the free movement of goods and services.  Greece was convicted of being in violation of trade legislation back by the European Court, backing October 2006.

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