New poll: What would encourage Belgium to change its egaming regulation?
Country's regulator under pressure to change online gambling laws following protests by industry's leading names.
The decision by the Belgian Gambling Commission (BGC) to publically detain bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger last week was a clear signal of intent from a regulator determined to penalise those operators that choose to ignore its egaming rules.
However in maintaining its strict stance on operators not licensed in the country, the regulator has drawn further criticism not only from lobbying group the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) last week, but also from many of the industry’s leading names, who collectively voiced their opinions in a letter published in the Financial Times this morning.
Both the RGA and the operators “ including bwin.party co-CEO Jim Ryan and bet365’s Denise and John Coates “ argue that the time has come for Belgium to comply with EU law and create a more competitive, open market.
The letter argues: “While the Belgian authorities are free to intimidate Europe’s leading online gaming groups with threats about the consequences of challenging their domestic gambling laws, the European Commission has yet to receive an answer to its own concerns regarding the regulatory regime in Belgium that have remained unresolved since issuing its detailed opinion back in 2009.”
Teufelberger was detained and questioned in Brussels last week at the European Gaming and Betting Association’s Responsible Gaming Day, with the BGC asking the exec to explain his company’s unlicensed activity in the country, wherein operators are unable to obtain a licence without a land-based presence or partner on the country’s soil.
RGA CEO Clive Hawkswood described the questioning as “one of many examples of the sort of injustice that is being faced by our industry because the Commission has yet to enforce properly the rules that it is there primarily to protect”.
Teufelberger was later released, but the move to reprimand him so publically was a clear signal that the BGC is standing its ground. But as the pressure mounts from several sources, what will it take for the Belgian authorities to change its online gambling regulation?
Answer this week’s poll on the eGR site on the bottom right of the homepage.