Strasbourg, 21/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has called on seven member states to ensure the compliance of their national regulatory frameworks for gambling services with European standards. Finland, on the other hand, is now not suspected of committing any infringement in this respect. The sector has not remained impassive when having to deal with these decisions.
Sweden is a separate case altogether. The country received a reasoned opinion regarding its monopoly on gaming but restrictive policies in the gaming sector were not applied systematically and the country will have two months to explain why it has failed to comply with rules on free movement of services, failing which, it could be taken to the European Court of Justice. The Commission would like to know more with regard to the cross-border provision of sports betting services and online poker, as well as their sponsorship advertising. Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Romania will also have to provide information about their procedures for granting licences and the conditions in place for providing online gaming services. Belgium will also have to clarify the transparency of its legal framework for online gaming and granting national lottery licences. Romania has questions to answer regarding the coherence of its gaming policy and Cyprus will have to answer questions regarding the equal treatment of service providers.
The legislation of other member states will also be more closely examined by the European Commission but these countries will not yet be subject to infringement proceedings. The Remote Gambling Association also regretted that the European Commission had not sent reasoned opinions to Greece or Germany. The European Lottery Association (EL) considers that a restrictive policy on gaming is contrary to the rules and its president, Friedrich Stickler, said that “a purely internal market approach is not applicable in the field of gambling. Public order and consumer protection require consistent regulation based on the principles of subsidiarity and precaution”. The EL used the example of the fact that the Commission had closed its infringement case against Finland, deeming that the exclusive right to offer gambling services complies with EU law. (MD/transl.fl)