European Lotteries welcomes committee report

The representative for some of Europe’s leading private and state-owned lotteries stated that the report has seen the European Parliament take ‘a strong stance on the need for measures to fight illegal operators’ including the establishment of payment blocking mechanisms and ‘black lists’.

European Lotteries is now urging the European Commission to include these measures in its forthcoming recommendations on consumer protection and advertising that could be published as early as July.

“We commend the European Parliament for its clear position on the need for member states to remain in the driver seat, a position which runs through the entire text of the report,” said Friedrich Stickler, President for European Lotteries.

“We welcome the European Parliament’s insistence on law enforcement at the national level and cooperation between the member states, in particular its demand that online gambling companies violating the laws of one member state should lose their license in other member states.”

European Lotteries declared that the report from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee shows that the European Parliament supports the strict regulation or prohibition of ‘dangerous forms of gambling’, and ‘should be defined through an in-depth evaluation at the national level’.

“The association welcomes the clear position that gambling is an economic activity of special nature and the insistence of the European Parliament on the application of the principle of subsidiarity,” read a statement from European Lotteries.

“The European Parliament very clearly underlines the right of member states to set their own gambling policy according to their own values and enforce it effectively.

Finally, European Lotteries welcomed the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee’s recognition of ‘the sustainable contribution and specific role of lotteries that should be acknowledged in discussions at the European level’ as its members contribute more than €20 billion ($25.98 billion) to state budgets or public interest causes each year.