“The application of EU law should not be optional”
The EGBA association has named five reasons why more European policies would benefit online gamblers and minors.
Belgium.- The European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) has released a document in which it says that more policies would be beneficial for online gamblers. It said that it is vital to ensure the that rules harmoniously intersect to safeguard the rights of consumers and promote the interests of online businesses.
The association argued that ensuring the EU single market embraces the digital reality and is less impeded by national barriers is a major challenge, but one that EU policymakers must grapple with to prevent Europe’s economy being left behind by global digital transformation.
“Today, EGBA’s member companies have over 12 million European customers, living across 19 EU countries, and who are now able to find the best offers online. The challenge in today’s borderless, digital world is to ensure that these citizens only use gambling websites licensed in the EU and are fully protected by European consumer protection rules when they play online,” said the association.
EGBA said that even a number of EU regulations apply to online gambling, it is still a sector almost entirely regulated by national policies. “In an era when Europeans can easily access websites operated from anywhere in the world, policy inconsistencies can lead to its citizens being exposed to different rules or websites that don’t protect their rights or interests.”
EGBA says current consumer protection standards are inadequate
To ensure a safer online gambling environment across EU countries the incoming Commission should start by enforcing its existing consumer protection proposals, said EGBA.
Moreover, it said that there is no formal framework for regulatory cooperation between Europan countries. “There is now no formal framework for regulators to even communicate, let alone to jointly tackle the big issues affecting the sector, which are cross-border and require common solutions. In the absence of policy consistency, more cooperation between regulatory authorities is a vital necessity to encourage exchanges of best practice and better alignment of national policies. The incoming Commission should reinstate regulatory cooperation between national gambling regulators to ensure better policy consistency.”
“The application of EU law should not be optional. Any serious legal complaint should get a fair consideration, irrespective of the sector it pertains to.”
“We need one set of rules providing better regulation of Europe’s online gambling activities, better-protected citizens and clear rules for gambling companies to comply with. That’s why we urge EU policymakers to work together in this new EU term to establish a better standard of protection for all Europe’s online citizens and single-market policies fit for the digital age,” said Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA.
