The EC to gather online gambling experts today

Secretary General of EGBA Sigrid Ligné said: “We welcome this first-ever meeting under the Commission’s aegis of Europe’s national gambling regulators and have high expectations of this process. We are calling for the introduction of EU-level rules to safeguard adequate protection for consumers and at the same time ensure fair and transparent licensing conditions for EU operators. With the European Court drawing ever-clearer ‘red lines’ for national regulation we have high hopes that rapid progress can and will be made through better cooperation and the development of common EU rules.”

When the European Parliament adopted its Report on Online Gambling in the Internal Market in November 2011, Commissioner Barnier committed to take action through a Communication announced for mid-2012 and also confirmed that the Commission would ensure the compliance of national regimes with the EU Treaties.

The lack of structured cooperation between national administrations has resulted in a patchwork of rules and costly duplications of requirements which so far have proved largely ineffective and detrimental to consumers, regulated operators and Member States.

On 27 February, the European Commission will for the first time have the opportunity to present its findings from the 260 contributions to the Green paper consultation on online gambling and 5 expert workshops conducted in 2011. It will also test national regulators’ appetite to cooperate and develop common EU rules.