Austria looking to launch independent gambling regulator
New finance minister wants to move regulatory body away from government
Austria is looking to establish an independent gambling regulator separate to the country’s government.
Currently, the principal regulatory body in the central European nation is the Austrian Ministry of Finance.
However, Minister of Finance Gernot Blümel has sanctioned the start of the process to establish an external body and revoke the ministry’s responsibilities.
In a statement provided to EGR Intel, Blümel’s spokesperson Felix Lamezan-Salins said: “The process for this new institution has just begun.
“We want to set up an independent institution which will be free of instruction and responsible for the supervision of casinos, transparent licensing and comprehensive player protection.”
The new regulatory body would take over the ministry’s current remit which includes online casino, plus poker and bingo.
Regulation for betting services is currently overseen by individual state authorities across Austria’s nine states.
Austrian People’s Party member Blümel assumed office in January 2020.
Last year, Austrian gambling expert Nicholas Aquilina told EGR he thought the Austrian government was struggling to act as an effective regulator due to a “deficiency of the law” in Austria, and not because of its own shortcomings.