The Spanish EU Presidency finds that a common definition of illegal gambling is vital to the implementation of coordinated and more effective actions on gambling. This is the key message of its report on legal advances on gambling and betting in the EU, presented to the Competitiveness Council, on 25 May.

The document takes stock of the discussions by the working party on establishment and services. To combat illegal gambling, this group considers concerted action by member states indispensable in a cross-border perspective. Concerted action would make different national laws more effective. The Presidency sees a need for the fullest possible knowledge of the different national legislations in order to adopt a common concept of illegal gambling and to respond to the situations created by illegal operators. It sent a questionnaire to all the member states on their policy and on what they understand by ‘illegal gambling’. The responses submitted will lead to a common definition of illegal gambling although some states have reservations on the negative consequences it could have on EU citizens. They also noted that all the member states have a public authority in charge of establishment authorisation, regulation and control of the sector.

ONLINE GAMBLING

Online gambling is authorised or in the process of being authorised in most of the 27 states, apart from Greece, Portugal, Germany, Romania, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Measures being considered against illegal operators include fines, imprisonment, blocking financial transactions or web pages, sanctions on illegal advertising and bans imposed on users of such sites. Administrative penalties are the sanctions used most often. Blocking such sites seems to run up against technical difficulties. All sanctions must respect Court of Justice case law, which requires respect for the principle of proportionality. The report also encourages information campaigns for EU citizens and welcomes the publication of the Commission’s green paper in the autumn.

“This report is the most balanced,” declared Sigrid Ligné, secretary-general of the European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA), because “it tries to strike a fair balance between member states’ right to regulate the sector and the obligation to respect treaty rules”. She added that blocking transactions and sites “is counter-productive” because it would simply encourage consumers who wish to have a wide choice to turn to illegal sites.