MEP demands ‘serious investigation’ on petition about Maltco monopoly

The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament has decided to keep open a petition by a Maltese citizen asking the European Commission to investigate whether the monopoly enjoyed by Maltco Lotteries in Malta is in line with EU competition rules.

Though the Commission has said it has no complaints over Maltco’s operations in Malta, the EP accepted a request by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil to keep the complaint on the agenda because Brussels did not address the complainant’s request.

The complaint was filed by Jean-Pierre Sammut, as a private initiative. He questioned the legality of the monopoly enjoyed by the Maltese betting and lottery firm Maltco.

Referring to a case involving Vodafone, which ended with the termination of the company’s monopoly in the mobile phone sector, the petitioner called upon the Parliament to investigate whether the situation in Malta was compatible with the EU’s competition principles.

In its reply, the Commission insisted that there did not appear to be any infringement of EU rules with regard to Maltco’s monopoly but also admitted it had not really gone into the details of the issue.

It said that according to EU rules, although abuses of dominant positions were prohibited, the mere fact of holding such a monopoly position was not.

“The Commission has no concrete indication that the monopoly of Maltco Lotteries would infringe the competition rules contained in the EU Treaty but the Commission agrees with the petitioner that the argument that competitors would not bring any different services than the monopolist could not be a valid justification for behaviour that would fall within the scope of the Treaty,” it said.

This reply irritated Dr Busuttil, a member of the Petitions Committee, who said the Commission could not treat a petition in this way and should investigate seriously all the complaints it received. He insisted the petition be sent back to the Commission for further clarifications.

The complaint has now been put on hold until the Commission comes out with a clearer reply.

Set up in 2004, Maltco Lotteries was given an exclusive licence to operate all national lottery games in Malta, most of which previously fell under the responsibility of the Public Lotto Department. Its major shareholder is a Greek international company, Intralot SA, although there are Maltese stakeholders too.