An unauthorised cross-border market may be accessible to consumers, due either to de facto tolerance or lack of effective enforcement. Effective enforcement is essential for Member States to ensure the achievement of the public interest objectives behind their national gambling … Read More
Restrictions on gambling services at national level are at times justified by policy reasons such as the financing of benevolent or public interest activities. Notwithstanding that the systems put in place for this purpose should comply with applicable state aid … Read More
Prevention of fraud All Member States seek to prevent fraud and unfair games. National legislation aims to protect, consumers (from fraudulent and criminal operators), operators (from fraudulent players or player syndicates) and event organisers. Examples include: unauthorised use of credit … Read More
Gambling addiction Where such information is available, rates of probable gambling addiction appear to vary from 0.3% to 3.1% of the entire population (Data from 7 Member States, M. Griffiths, Problem gambling in Europe: An overview, Appex Communications, April 2009.). … Read More
A majority of players do not suffer from problem gambling. However, those that do must be fully accounted for given the associated social costs for the player, his or her family and society as a whole. All gamblers need protection … Read More
A number of services, including marketing and payment services, are used by gambling operators to encourage or facilitate on-line gambling. Some of these services are subject to secondary legislation. Promotion of on-line gambling – Commercial Communications On-line service providers use … Read More
According to the Court’s case law under Article 49 TFEU, the concept of establishment is a very broad one, allowing an EU national to participate, on a stable and continuous basis, in the economic life of a Member State other … Read More
A large number of differing gambling services are covered by the term “online gambling”. These include on-line provision of sports betting services (including horse racing), casino games, spread betting, media games, promotional games, gambling services operated by and for the … Read More
The regulatory situation for on-line gambling is characterized by the fact that in 2006 the Commission, following a unanimous demand of the Council and the European Parliament in first reading, excluded gambling services from the scope of its modified proposal … Read More
In 2008, the annual revenues generated by the gambling service sector, measured on the basis of Gross Gaming Revenues (GGR) (i.e. stakes less prizes but including bonuses), were estimated to be € 75,9 bn (EU 2712), showing the economic significance … Read More
Today on-line gambling services are widely offered and used in the EU and the economic significance of the sector is growing. The on-line offer is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market, accounting for 7.5% of the annual revenues … Read More
Broadly speaking there are currently two models of national regulatory framework applied in the field of gambling in EU: one based on licensed operators providing services within a strictly regulated framework and the other on a strictly controlled monopoly (state … Read More
