Report to EU Parliament

Online gambling and the opening up of various national markets is a relevant topic in the European Union.  Last week the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee was presented with a report on the topic.

The report recommended the establishment of a code of conduct that would result in adequate consumer protection without regulation of the businesses.  The report was prepared by Europe Economics, an organization which is based in the United Kingdom and it examined the various policy options that are available to ensure a reliable and ethical gambling market.

The report suggested that the EU should focus on the problems that could result from gambling instead of considering gambling legislation.  They do not favor legislation like the UIGEA enacted by the United States because it just results in players finding ways of gambling. 

The report considers the problem of fraud resulting at online playing sites and felt that EU licensing would have very little effect on the practice.  Since it is unlikely that the EU can bring about a common legislation that would be accepted by the various European states, the report favors the code of conduct approach as the best way of protecting consumers and recommendations the formation of a working group to develop such a code. 

Since this report contradicts another report that the committee received last week, the industry is waiting to see which approach the Committee will adopt.

Posted: November 14, 2008

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