Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/217686
8 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2013 European Commission acts against gambling laws of member states THE European Commission launched formal infringement proceedings against the online gambling legislation of six member states and issued two 'reasoned opinions' against Sweden for failing to comply with EU law. This move follows repeated calls from the European Parliament for the Commission to act as the Guardian of the Treaties and significant legal clarifications by the Court of Justice on how the Treaty applies to national gambling legislation. Similar decisions against other member states are expected to follow. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Romania with regard to their online gambling legislation. Sweden, which already was subject to an infringement proceeding, was today sent two reasoned opinions – i.e., formal requests – to bring its legislation in conformity with EU law rules and the last step before potential litigation at the Court of Justice. Sweden has a two-month deadline to reply to the Commission. Estimates put the revenue from Malta's growing i-gaming cluster at 10% of GDP and with some 6,000 people directly employed in this industry sector, the scene may be set for further growth spurred by this latest round of political activity. With the Maltese jurisdiction beginning to leverage its 10 years of expertise, there may now be renewed interest in exploring EU opportunities in a more systematic way based on yesterday's news from Brussels and looking for consensus on how to develop the Single Market for services to Malta's advantage in this emerging context. With the EU taking up its role of guardian of the EU treaty certainly indicates that Maltese businesses can seize the opportunity, not only for the gambling contribution to Malta but also for the remote gaming sector which is the primary driver of Maltese Digital Economy, attracting strong foreign direct investment and with highly positive spill-over effects into other digital sectors of the Maltese economy. These are the first series of decisions from the European Commission regarding outstanding complaints and pending infringe- ment cases against over 20 member states. While the Commission has closed some complaints, cases against inter alia France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and the Netherlands remain under investigation and are awaiting formal decision. The decision to restart gambling infringement proceedings is a significant step as its last comparable action dates back to February 2008. The Commission's action follows repeated calls from the European Parliament – most recently in its June 2013 report 'Online Gambling in the Internal Market' – for the Commission to "continue to monitor and enforce compliance of national laws and practices with EU law... and to launch infringements procedures against those Member States that appear to breach EU law". It is based on recent clarifications by the CJEU on how the Treaty applies to the (online) gambling sector. National rules which prohibit gambling services authorised in other Member States were found to restrict the freedom of residents to receive services offered in other member states. Furthermore, gambling licensing regimes must be transparent, non-discriminating and non-arbitrary. Most importantly, the CJEU has clarified that national regulation must be overall consistent in its objectives and measures and that it is for the Member State to prove that imposed restrictive measures are suitable and necessary. Maltese architect joins chorus for an independent inquiry into 9/11 ARCHITECTS & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911) is an American nonprofit organisation consisting of over 2,000 architectural and engineering professionals as well as nearly 18,000 other supporters including family members of the victims of the September 11 attacks. Earlier this year, Patrick Calleja became the first Maltese member of this organisation which is disputing the results of official investigations into the collapse of the three World Trade Center Towers in New York. "The heat from burning jet fuel cannot melt steel let alone fuse concrete to steel" The AE911 is demanding that the United States Congress pursue "a truly independent investigation" into the September 11 attacks as they believe government agency investigations into the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers have not addressed what it refers to as "massive evidence for explosive demolition". "I was invited to a viewing of the documentaries AE911 Truth and 9/11 in the Academic Community, both of which are now available on YouTube, and I found the evidence presented to be overwhelming and incontrovertible," Calleja said when asked how he became involved with the organisation. "I'm not one to be easily taken in by Earlier this year, Patrick Calleja became the first Maltese member of an organisation which is disputing the results of the official investigation into the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre towers in New York what would normally be termed 'conspiracy theories' but I sensed that this was not about conjecture," he said. While he admits that his involvement is very limited – not least due to geographical constraints – Calleja says that the September 11 incident was a 'world changing affair' and that it needs to be revisited. He says that the 2011 Toronto Hearings on 9/11 clearly showed that the official investigations were seriously flawed. "The AE911 conviction, which is based on scientific facts, is that the three buildings did not collapse because of the impact of any jet but were dropped by controlled demolition explosives," he says. Of course, I ask him who he believes could have been behind such a demolition job but Calleja stops short of pointing any fingers. "I'm not going to speculate, and it is certainly not the intention of AE911 to do so, but explosive material, molten steel and concrete were certainly found at Ground Zero," he said. "The heat from burning jet fuel cannot melt steel, let alone fuse concrete to steel," he said, adding that vid- eos clearly show explosions occurring throughout the buildings. "The AE911 goal is to prompt an independent re-investigation into the collapses of the Twin Towers and the third WTC 7 building," Calleja said, stressing that the latter, 47-storey building also collapsed despite the fact that it had not been targeted by any aircraft or other missile.