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European nations may be following in the footsteps of the United States regarding the regulation of online gambling. Already the United States has banned money transfers from financial institutions to online casinos and poker rooms to fund cash accounts for online play even though only eleven out of fifty states has declared online gambling as illegal. Most online gambling sites have restricted access to American customers because of this and if things in Europe keep going in the same direction, online casinos and poker rooms may be in big trouble.
Recently the regulation of online gambling websites has been taken into consideration in the Netherlands. The Justice Ministry is pursuing the same type of money transfer prevention that has been established in the United States for their own citizens and has released a list of online casinos to the banks requesting that they cease and desist all business relations with the sites on the list. According to a spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry, anyone offering a casino game without governmental permission will be considered in violation of the law and partaking in an illegal practice. The Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands has been instructed to bring any delinquencies to court in order to decide whether or not they are in violation.
April saw the denial of a request by the state-owned ‘Holland Casino’ provider to open up and operate their own online casino. Had the Dutch Parliament agreed to the request, private providers may very well have pulled their services from citizens of the country because of what they perceived as unfair competition. Already the Netherlands and Greece have received letters from the European Union to regulate their markets and open them to private gaming providers as per the free trade agreement between members.
The German government also received a letter from the European Union asking them to state their views on the current European gambling laws as it pertained to their outlook on online casinos and poker rooms. Private providers specifically asked for the German government’s view on what they considered free rendering of services and how they would provide for the missing regulations. The German government has asked for an extension of the deadline that was issued in the letter in order to deliberate a final answer.
Denmark has agreed that poker is not a game of pure luck and is now currently repealing its gambling monopoly in order to regulate the market and open it up to private providers. The Danish government has, however, made it very clear to their citizens that anyone not paying duty on their winnings will be legally prosecuted as tax evaders.
In France, the government has announced that they too will begin licensing regulations that will allow outside companies to offer their casino games in the country, although the regulations may be as stiff as those currently in effect in Germany and the Netherlands.
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France’s draconian gambling laws and betting monopoly have attracted much criticism over the years. The French authorities’ crackdown on foreign gambling firms even led to several high profile arrests last year.
However, all this may be about to change, according to the French finance minister Eric Woerth. Woerth will be recommending to President Sarkozy that the country begin to relax their laws and open up the gambling market.
Hit by the European Commission over their breach of free trade laws within Europe, France looks set to mend its ways, and end the state-run monopoly. The European Commissioner had warned that any member states flouting the rules would face the European Court of Justice to settle the dispute.
The Sarkozy government plans on a “controlled opening†of the gambling market to begin in 2009 with a trial phase. This will allow private betting companies to operate within France under license under the same conditions as the current national monopoly, Pari Mutuel Urbain.
This is good news for online gambling, since in recent months, more and more markets had been closed off to operators. Other countries criticized were Germany, Greece and the Netherlands. The European Commission has been a champion for free trade in this respect, imposing the principles of the EU and forcing member states to reconsider their protectionist policies.
It remains to be seen how things will work out in the French market, but it is clear that many online casino and gambling networks will be breathing a sigh of relief.
Online Gambling Links - Top Gambling Casino twentycasino.comTags: gambling, online casino, online gambling