One of the heads of the European Commission recently expressed concern over gambling laws implemented by some European Union nations and, in what may come as a shock, her concern was that they were too restrictive. Answering a parliamentary question last week, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska said that the requirement of some countries that online gambling operators have a physical office in the country merits discussion. The question was posed by European Parliament member David Casa of Malta on June 9th, 2015: In a particular national gambling law that has been notified to…

The European Commission has joined the chorus of critics of Germany’s stalled online gambling regulatory regime. Late last month, the EC issued a formal rebuke of Germany’s three-year-old federal interstate gambling treaty. It’s been nearly one year since Germany awarded 20 federal online sports betting licenses but legal challenges by rejected applicants have prevented any of these licenses from taking effect. This failure to launch loomed large in the EC’s shaming letter, but it was far from the only criticism. The EC also chastised the lack of transparency during the license application process and questioned the reasoning behind Germany’s decision…

Gaming Intelligence – The UK Gambling Commission has notified the European Commission (EC) of its amended Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice for gambling operators. The notification was received by the EC yesterday (May 28th), starting a standstill period which expires on August 29th. The notification relates to amendments to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice that reflect changes in legislation effected by the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, which extends the 2005 Gambling Act’s jurisdiction over remote gambling. FULL STORY (SUBSCRIPTION)

Poker News – Right after the visit the European commissioner for competition and European Commission vice president Joakin Almunia paid to Athens, the Greek government decided to introduce significant amendments to its gaming law. This should finally put Greece’s legislation in line with European directives and calm fears of an upcoming monopoly. Greece’s reliance on the so-called “European trojka” — the unofficial group composed by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — pushed the country to change direction and remove from its gambling law some criticized bits that could have led to the creation of a…

  This Week in Gambling – The industry specialists at Super Casino are patiently waiting for the European Commission to unveil its recommendations on consumer protection and advertising for online gambling. Whilst member states share a common objective of protecting consumers, there are concerns that multiple gambling reforms at national level have yielded different results. It is expected that the executive body will disable this “patchwork of different national approaches” in favour of a new uniform approach across Europe. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), hopes the commission’s recommendations will draw together a common set of principles which provide…

iGaming Business – Fears that the Greek government will extend OPAP’s gaming monopoly to online appear to have been calmed following the news that the European Commission is digging in its heels over what it sees as a state subsidy. The Greek rumour mill had previously suggested that, DG MARKT, the Internal Market and Services Directorate General of the Commission, had given the green light to the proposed Greek law that would grant OPAP an online monopoly and revoke the interim authorisations currently in use by a number of operators. The government’s Gaming Monitoring Committee had sent the proposals to…