Brussels, 22/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - A considerable number of experts attending a colloquium organised by the Academy of European Law (ERA) in Prague last week recognized that there is a lack of coherence in European legislation on online betting and gambling. However, few of those who attended were optimistic that this can be remedied in the near future. Portugal, Italy and Germany are still reluctant to open up this market, a sensitive one from the point of view of consumer protection, and that of State revenue. But the Commission has so far refuted these arguments, referring to the Court of Justice when necessary. The Commission also voiced doubts over the "controlled opening-up" the French online gaming market, as proposed by Paris.
Several of those who spoke at the conference referred to a lack of correlation between the regulatory regimes and rates of gambling addiction. Gerhard Meyer, a lecturer in psychology and cognition at University of Bremen, noted that these rates are identical in the United Kingdom and in Germany, despite their differences in legislation, compared to gambling addiction levels which are twice as high Sweden and Finland, in spite of the State monopolies in force in these countries. It is nonetheless difficult to recommend harmonisation at Union level, as Belgian lawyer Philippe Vlaemminck proposed. It is true that this would facilitate legal predictability for businesses, but "there is no legal basis" to impose a harmonisation of this kind, replied Maarten Haijer, Director of Regulatory Affairs at EGBA, which represents the online gambling operators in Brussels. (C.D./trans.fl)