EC to reveal egaming "action plan" on 24 October
Delayed action plan aimed at "building a better framework for online gambling services in the EU" to be presented next Tuesday.
The European Commission will unveil its delayed egaming action plan aimed at “building a better framework for online gambling services in the EU” on Tuesday 24 October, the Brussels body has announced.
Following the announcement industry lobby group the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) called for “hard action” from the Commission to “curb market fragmentation and protect consumers”. It described the Communication and Action Plan “ that was due to be presented last month “ as a “key test” as to whether or not the body would allow the fragmentation of the industry to continue or whether consumers would “continue to suffer different levels of protection” through the European Union.
“Will some consumers, and in particular children and the vulnerable, continue to suffer no protection at all, where a Member State closes the door to EU-regulated operators, thus encouraging consumers to look for non-regulated websites?,” it added.
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of EGBA said: “We deplore the situation today where we see 27 mini-markets for gambling in Europe. We are calling for the introduction of European rules to ensure proper protection for consumers and maintain a crime-free environment throughout the EU, while affording open, fair and transparent licensing conditions for EU-regulated operators.”
The action plan follows from the EC’s March 2011 Green Paper document on the state of the industry and the patchwork of regulation that has spread across Europe since Italy regulated in 2007.
At the time the Remote Gambling Association said the long-awaited paper “barely raises the question of Member States’ restrictions on the freedoms of the Internal Market.”
The findings of the consultation revealed that Member States “essentially have the same objectives: protecting consumers, ensuring a fair and transparent offer, preventing fraud and protecting the integrity of sports”, the EC said last year.
The consultation also showed that in an online environment it is “virtually impossible for Member States to address these objectives individually,” the EC added.
Interested parties were invited to comment on four areas including:
- The definition and organisation of online gambling services: the main advantages and/or difficulties associated with the co-existence in the EU of different national systems and practices for the licensing of online gambling services
- Related services (performed and/or used by online gambling services providers): Consulting on rules and practices relating to online commercial communication, customer identification and regulations for payment systems for online gambling services and player accounts.
- Public interest objectives: Focuses on three objectives including consumer protection, public order and financing of benevolent and public interest activities and events, which to various degrees may be valid for Member States in terms of their national online gambling policies.
- Enforcement: Consultation seeks to evaluate current enforcement systems and cross-border cooperation between Member States and gather factual information on the efficiency of the existing blocking systems (such as payment blocking or domain name filtering)
On 3 October EGBA lodged a formal complaint with the Commission against the new German gambling regime on grounds of incompatibility with the EU treaty.
Together with industry partners, it argues that the situation is worsening in a number of jurisdictions Europe, with several countries moving forward with legislation that it describes as “at best “ highly questionable under EU law.”