Online gaming activities represent a delicate subject for EU parliament representatives

Sep 8, 2011 12:00 GMT  ·  By

After numerous complaints, the European Commission is seriously considering the introduction of EU regulations regarding online gambling, much to the satisfaction of operators and policy makers alike.

EurActiv informs us that the gambling industry filed numerous complaints to the EU's Services Directive to get involved, but so far nothing has been done.

Up until now, each European country was responsible for making and enforcing laws which were meant to protect gamblers from addiction, fraud, money laundering and match fixing.

Currently, the laws concerning online wagering vary from country to country. In some cases the market is perfectly liberal, while in others, like Sweden, the advertisement of such activities is completely forbidden.

In June 2010, the European Court of Justice gave member states the possibility to totally ban virtual betting games if they considered it to be a method of combating fraud.

All seems well, but the fact of the matter is that such procedures will be hard to put together as opinions between state officials are very diversified.

Germany, for instance, wants minimum standard rules, which can later be adapted by governments, while still keeping open the possibility of totally banning wagering activities.

German liberal MEP Jürgen Creutzmann said that "From outright bans to perfectly liberal markets, national regulations couldn't be more different. But the Internet has no borders and the Single Market should not be allowing this, so at the moment the gambling market doesn't work."

Harri Syväsalmi, director for sport in the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture is more optimist, stating "If the rules are unclear and are producing many infringement procedures, then why not improve them? Several recent EU presidencies have tried to deal with this. You need to have a consistent gambling policy: online is not a different ball game, merely a different distribution channel."

Meanwhile, online betting company representatives are a bit skeptic about the benefits of rules drawn up by the EU.

"We welcome strong regulation and would like to see it across Europe. But it will be hard to find regulators that are competent enough to regulate the online gambling market," warned Malcolm Bruce of Betfair.

"Companies must take the lead, because they are on top of technological developments. Regulation is always behind technology," he added.