BELGIUM

The Belgian government is to require Internet service providers to block access to unlicensed e-gaming sites from January, and will also prevent the gambling operators from processing financial transactions involving Belgian bank and card accounts.

Currently, the eight licensed online gaming sites servingBelgiumare estimated to have about 35,000 customers, but as many as 150,000 other Belgians use unauthorised sites.

DENMARK

 EU regulators have approvedDenmark’s plans to tax online gaming operators at a lower rate than their land-based counterparts, imposing only a 20 percent flat-rate levy on gross revenue. The decision will likely make it possible for any other EU member state to do the same.

EUROPE

 The European Parliament has issued a lengthy resolution on the shape that e-gambling regulation should take. Among its recommendations are that regulation should “channel the natural gaming instinct of the population by restricting advertising to the level that is strictly necessary in order to direct potential gamblers to the legal provision of services, and by requiring all advertising for online gambling to be systematically coupled with a message warning against excessive or pathological gambling”.

It also calls for member nations to “combat the illegal gambling sector by strengthening technical and legal instruments for identifying and sanctioning illegal operators”, to “guarantee effective protection for gamblers, with specific attention to vulnerable groups, in particular young people”, to “ensure that part of the value of bets goes to sports and horse-racing bodies”, and to “ensure that a considerable proportion of government revenue from gambling is used for publicly beneficial and charitable purposes”.

Concerned about fragmentation of regulation, it calls for national regulators to co-operate more closely, developing common standards and working together against unlicensed operators.

It also suggests the introduction of pan-European uniform minimum standards of electronic identification and consumer protection.

Trade body the Remote Gambling Association praised the resolution. “The European Parliament’s resolution demonstrates a marked change in approach,” said Clive Hawkswood, the association’s chief executive. “It now wants to regulate rather than prohibit, and it is pressing the European Commission to act against member states which unjustifiably restrict access to their gambling markets.”

He added: “There is no evidence that introducing a well-regulated licensing regime with multiple operators presents any more concerns than a monopoly.”

However, the association also said “it is disappointing that [the resolution] includes a reference to a property right for sports event organisers from betting. This follows increasing lobbying by wealthy sporting bodies to unjustifiably manufacture new income from betting products in addition to the large amount of commercial income they already receive from the gambling sector.”

GREECE

 E-gaming firms have already protested that the partially state-owned OPAP’s land-based gaming business receives more favourable tax treatment than online operators do inGreece.

Now the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) have lodged a complaint with the European Commission regarding the country’s new e-gaming rules, saying that “a number of anti-competitive and unjustified restrictions remain in the adopted law. These place unnecessary and unjustified economic burdens on new operators, such as forcing them to have a permanent establishment inGreeceand limiting financial transactions to Greek banks. The law also imposes a higher age limit for online than offline gambling with no justifiable evidence to support that restriction.”

The two associations also charge thatGreece’s government acted non-transparently and stifled competition in awarding OPAP a ten-year extension of its licence, to 2030.

IRELAND

Ireland’s High Court is to rule this month on whether commercial bingo should be permitted in the country. The law permits bingo to take place only for charitable or philanthropic purposes, but in practice many charities have formed partnerships with commercial operators, and there are around 20 commercial-style bingo halls in the country working under such arrangements. The issue came to a head with the case of Rock Bingo in theCorksuburb of Togher, a new 1000-seater venue which was given the green light to open by the High Court but raided by police just days later.

Separately, the Irish government is considering a sale of the National Lottery, among other state assets collectively worth about €2bn. If it were sold, the deputy prime minister said, the amount it raises for charity – €244m last year – would be protected.

ITALY

Italy is contemplating an increase in the maximum stake on Comma 6a machines from €1 to €2, with maximum prizes going up from €100 to €200. Operators have said that the new VLTs are “seriously affecting” business. VLTs currently account for about ten percent of AWPs, but more than 25 percent of takings.

JERSEY

Jerseymay take the British government to court over its exclusion from the list of nations approved for providing e-gaming services to Britons. Alderney and theIsle of Manare on the list.

SERBIA

New laws inSerbiaincrease the powers of the gaming regulator, enabling it to crack down on illegal casino operations and money laundering.

SINGAPORE

Singapore is further restricting casino marketing, in a bid to ensure that gaming appeals primarily to visitors and not residents. Its Casino Control (Advertising) Regulations now cover membership campaigns and loyalty programmes.

SLOVAKIA

The finance ministry has decided not to restrict access to foreign online gaming services without a Slovakian licence.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Trinidad and Tobagocould regulate its gaming sector in an attempt to develop tourism, according to a government minister in theCaribbeanstate. Currently, it has around 75 casinos and private clubs employing an estimated 10,000 people, and doing business largely without supervision.

“The casino industry has been operating in a very unregulated manner since it started,” minister of trade and industry Stephen Cadiz told local media. “Gambling has been going on inTrinidad and Tobagofor centuries but the current regulations under which the casinos have been operating are being abused under the Private Members’ Club Act. There is also the problem of money laundering. The government will have to take a decision to regulate this industry.”

The nation has a population of only 1.2m, nearly all on theislandofTrinidad. But regulation would attract foreign gamblers and help to boost the tourism sector, which has been growing but is not proportionally as important to the economy as it is in some otherCaribbeancountries. It would also lead to better conditions for casino employees,Cadizsuggested.

UNITED KINGDOM

The European Court of Justice has agreed with Rank Group

that British VAT law on amusement machines and bingo breached the EU law principle of fiscal neutrality. British courts have already found in favour of Rank’s £253.4m claim for overpaid bingo-related VAT; a claim for a further £30.8m related to amusement machines remains outstanding.

Separately, Rank has issued a paper calling on the British government to harmonise tax rates for online and land-based gaming. Said chairman and CEO Ian Burke: “I believe that the government has the opportunity to create jobs in theUKwithout sacrificing tax receipts by replacing the current patchwork quilt with a single tax, at a single rate.”

Conservative MP Matthew Hancock is also asking the government to address gaming tax issues. He says millions of pounds of tax revenue are lost when bookmakers move offshore.

Meanwhile, parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee reconvened at the end of November to consider the effectiveness of the 2005 Gambling Act. Issues it is examining include the impact of offshore e-gaming operators, the lack of new casino licences, and the classification and regulation of gaming machines.

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