As the government weighs up its options, the industry sees the light at the end of the prohibition tunnel...

There was jubilation in the Greek coin-op industry recently when the European Court of Justice ruled that the Greek Government’s ban on amusement machines is illegal under EC law. The ban was introduced because the government was concerned that amusement and skill games could be converted by operators into gambling machines.

The case was taken to the European Court in February 2005 when several Greek industry members rallied, led by Photo Play distributor Nikos Serdaris. The court said that Greece had prohibited the installation and operation of all electrical, electro-mechanical and electronic games on all premises apart from casinos.

The law came into effect in July 2002 and at that time the EC gave Greece its opinion of the legality of the law. The EC was not satisfied with the response of the Greek Government and so initiated the European Court action.

Unjustified measure

The EC argued in court that the Greek ban was an “unjustified measure” and that is was “disproportionate as regards the objective of the protection of public interest.”

The Commission argued that it was possible to install forms of control so that recreational and skill-based games could not be converted into games of chance.

Its defeat in the European Court left the Greek Government considering its options. The ruling that the ban was illegal does not mean that games will be readmitted immediately. Greece now has 18 months to respond to the EC about how it intends to comply with the ruling. 

That will mean a considerable time lapse before the industry can re-establish itself and, even then, if Greece installs a homologation process to test every game before it enters the country, the process could be still longer.

Industry reaction

Greek manufacturer, distributor and operator Vasilios Vlassis gave InterGame an idea of how the industry has reacted to this series of events. “Initially, the decision of the European Court of Justice made people in the industry feel more optimistic,” he said.

“However, after second thoughts we were thinking hard about how we all should react from now on. I have to stress here that after the prohibition the trade unions of the industry were wound down, apart from the technicians’ union.

“They were the only ones who kept on striving against this prohibition with the few means they possessed. However, now all the unions of the industry have already started moving again. Moreover, I should highlight the efforts of Nikos Serdaris against this prohibition.”

He also made the point that many operators continued to operate gaming machines during the ban period. “Some operators carried on placing machines in their sites without fear of the police. During the four years of prohibition, gambling games never stopped operating, either in computers or in small cabinets on the bar.

“It is evident that the police were after these and many operators appeared in front of the courts for the foreclosure of their machines. There are thousands of machines that have been seized during the past four years.”

Despite the ban, Vlassis says the most popular machines in Greece at the moment are gambling games. These are various games with eight lines and butterfly graphics and Vlassis’ own multigame, Game Park II. In the amusements sector, Funworld’s Photo Play is dominating the market.

“At the moment the main problem in the industry is the non-existence of a legal framework,” added Vlassis. “Time passes and the government is not daring to take the initiative in issuing a new law and put everything in order.”

“As a result, there are only a few serious manufacturers left in the country. They continue in the development of their machines, waiting for the legality to come in order to expand. They strongly believe that only by working in a legal environment will the industry be able to flourish.

“Moreover there are relevant questions like whether this solution will require big companies outside the industry to be distributing the legal machines or if it will require a homologation procedure to give us smooth development of the Greek gaming industry. 

“Also, local manufacturers are wondering if the big companies from abroad will fill the market with their new models, ending up in a situation where there would be no place for the Greek manufacturers to work in their own market.

“But overall, we hope and we feel that the end of this prohibition is very close and very soon a new era will come.”