SOURCE: Washington Times

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But now that it is in, the country is anything but neutral in battles with EU bureaucrats in Brussels and their regulations that set standards on mundane issues ranging from the size of strawberries to the latest dispute over gambling.

Svenska Spel, which runs the gambling monopoly, has an annual profit of almost $700 million.

Some of the profits are used to sponsor the Swedish Sports Confederation, but a significant chunk — about $491 million — goes to the government and, as the argument goes, to the Swedish people.

"It doesn't look like the [European] Commission will accept Sweden's answer, that it is to protect public health," said Anna Hedh, another Swedish member of the European Parliament.

"The commission is part right in their claim that the monopoly is there to boost government economy, but a lot of the money is used to do good such as treatment for gambling addiction and sport sponsorship."

Sweden is not the only country arguing with the European Union over state-owned monopolies.

France, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and Italy have similar monopolies for gambling. Italy was forced to open its gambling market after a ruling from the EU court in March 2007.

"It won't look good on our record if we lose in court, and it might give the commission an incentive to go after the other two monopolies," Mrs. Hedh said.

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