EGBA Provides Online Gambling Wish List

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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is a trade body representing the major online gambling operators of Europe. The European Parliament is meeting on June 27 to discuss online gambling regulation. Just ahead of that the EGBA has released a wish list detailing the action required by the European Parliament on this contentious issue.

At the outset the EGBA secretary general Sigrid Ligne thanked the European Parliament for positive steps taken. She lauded European Commission (EC) chief Michael Barnier for reigniting debate on online gambling through his Green Paper consultation and the launch of expert workshops on problem gambling. She also appreciated that the European Parliament has adopted the Creutzmann report, which acknowledged that national stand-alone solutions are not suitable for tackling the cross-border dimension of online gambling and urged the European Commission to pursue infringement proceedings against protectionist regimes.

Ligne pointed out that despite the above steps the situation had worsened. Some nations had even introduced criminal sanctions against online gambling operators and consumers based on legislation that violated EU law. Ligne said, “Without Commission action now, certain member states will continue to consider that they have carte blanche to do as they please.”

The EGBA wish list included more cooperation and trust between EU member states in handling online gambling regulation. What exists today is a proliferation of rules, costly duplication of controls and requirements and loopholes and inconsistencies in consumer protection. The EGBA recommended that the EU establish a legal obligation and an agreed channel for member states to give each other mutual assistance.

Today there exist in Europe 27 mini-markets for online gambling and the consumer is not allowed to choose between them but is forced to accept his national market with all its drawbacks. This has given rise to an unregulated sector that is extremely harmful for the consumer. The EGBA has asked for an overarching EU-wide legislation for online gambling. This is not an unreasonable expectation. Such a framework exists for almost all other services and online gambling is covered by a number of EU rules.

The end goal for the EGBA is a single license for online gambling operators across all of Europe. But Ligne realizes that this cannot be achieved in a single step. Therefore, adopting a practical approach, the EGBA has proposed the harmonization of targeted licensing requirements, common technical standards and reporting tools and common consumer protection standards based on the workshop agreement published in 2011 by the European standardization body CEN. For a start this will protect European consumers, minimize the activity of the illicit unregulated online gambling sector, provide a level playing field for European online gambling operators and generate much needed revenue for European countries.

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