Regulatory progress in sight for online gambling

10 December 2010
by EGBA -- last modified 10 December 2010

EU ministers have acknowledged for the first time that a purely national approach is insufficient to deal with online gambling, paving the way for increased cooperation at the European level.

The Council Conclusions on the Framework for Gambling and Betting in the Member States of the European Union published today, represent a landmark in the policy discussion surrounding online gambling. This is the first unanimous position that Member States have reached since they began debating online gambling in the Council in 2008. It will provide additional impetus to the recently announced Commission´s Green Paper consultation. Green Papers are documents published by the European Commission to stimulate discussion at European level. They invite the relevant parties to participate in a consultation process and debate on the basis of the proposals they put forward. Green Papers may give rise to legislative developments.
 
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA comments; ´The importance of these Conclusions for online gambling in the EU cannot be underestimated. The Member States expressly support an in-depth discussion on online gambling in the Internal Market as proposed by Commissioner Barnier. For the first time they have also unanimously agreed to work on very practical measures to improve cross-border cooperation. The EGBA commends the Belgian Presidency for its hard work and this remarkable result´. 
 
The Member States agreed on a number of actions that national regulatory authorities could undertake and that will improve cooperation between them. They include cooperation on consumer protection, sports integrity, minimizing unnecessary administrative burdens and sharing of best practice in relation to responsible gambling measures.
 
Sigrid Ligné adds: ´Since Commissioner Barnier announced the Green Paper, the debate on online gambling is evolving rapidly. The landscape has changed. Less than a year ago, these Conclusions would have been unthinkable. The EGBA fully supports the Commission in its efforts to issue the Green Paper as soon as possible.´

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is the industry body representing the leading online gaming and betting operators established, licensed and regulated within the EU. EGBA promotes the implementation of a fair, competitive and regulated market for online gaming operators throughout Europe in line with EU law. EGBA believes that this regulated market should be based on genuine public order and consumer protection concerns and be adapted to the cross-border nature of the online market. A successful regulated market would be based on effective European and international collaboration and cooperation.

European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA)