European regulators demand mutual respect
European Regulatory Platform holds first meeting day after EC-arranged meeting; calls on commission to investigate all tools of cooperation.
Newly formed think-tank the European Regulatory Platform (ERP) has demanded that “regulators must show a fundamental and mutual respect for the legislation of the other Member States trying to regulate their…market” following its first meeting this week.
It called upon the European Commission to “Investigate all tools of cooperation” and ensure a mutual respect exists between regulators.
Held a day after Monday’s EC-organised regulator summit in Brussels, the meeting comprised representatives from Belgium, Finland, Germany and Norway, who pledged their support for the EC’s initiative in bringing them together this week.
In a statement today the ERP said: “[The EC initiative] can be an answer for the concerns of the European Council and the European Parliament regarding administrative cooperation”¦ EC seems to recognise that the experiences in Member States must be used to build further on.”
It did also raise a number of concerns, however, namely that “There’s no clarity about the action plan and if it will take into account the concerns of most of the regulators of [EU] Member States.
“It’s not yet clear if the EC sees all regulatory authorities as serious regulators and more fundamental if they have the opinion that some regulators, admitting that a harmonisation in the sector is not at the table, have the right to issue licences for online gambling activities in other countries if there is a proper legislation in that country,” the ERP explained.
A number of European regulatory authorities, most recently Portugal and Greece, have seen their proposals met with opposition from the EC, while Belgium was forced to change its regulations before issuing its first licences this year.
Furthermore it asked “Will EC investigate all possible tools of cooperation, including enhanced cooperation?” and raised questions about the approach to unlicensed operators in regulated European markets.
Belgium has already introduced a blacklist of unlicensed operators while Italian regulator AAMS is in talks with financial institutions with the hope of enforcing a block on transactions with unauthorised egaming companies, but other regulators such as ARJEL in France have admitted that reforms may be needed to prevent players flocking to unlicensed sites.
The ERP has sent its findings to the European Commission today, and is likely to address these and other issues at its next meeting, to be held after the second EC regulator summit, which is expected to involve representatives from a number of other jurisdictions.