The European Commission (EC) has issued a detailed opinion opposing elements of Belgian draft legislation which would restrict the online gaming and betting market to operators established in Belgium.
Maarten Haijer, Director for Regulatory Affairs of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) said: "The requirement for operators to be established in Belgium is one of the clearest violations of EC Treaty provisions. It wrongly denies that many online gaming operators are effectively regulated, licensed and controlled elsewhere in the EU. As several jurisdictions in the EU already prove, it is possible to guarantee a high level of consumer protection and have a well regulated and competitive online gaming and betting market at the same time."
The Belgian draft law was notified to the European Commission and the other Member States on 27 March 2009. A detailed legal analysis carried out on behalf of EGBA highlighted a number of issues highly doubtful under EC law:
This is the second detailed opinion from the Commission against recent draft legislation for online gaming and betting in a short period. On 8 June France received a detailed opinion against its proposed legislation because it also violated several Treaty provisions. Both Belgium and France intend to introduce ISP blocking to prevent consumers playing with EU licensed and regulated operators.
"ISP blockings cannot impose territorial boundaries on the Internet. Experience shows that such restrictions are difficult to implement, easy to circumvent, inefficient and foster the growth of an underground market" Maarten Haijer added.
The EC opinion extends the standstill period until 30 July 2009, during which time Belgium cannot adopt its draft legislation. Belgium is required to reply to the Commission’s views before adopting the legislation. If Belgium decides to adopt the current text without taking into account the Commission’s objections, the Commission can institute infringement proceedings.
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