Polish Gambling Law Not Acceptable

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While Poland was lauded for going ahead with the legalization, licensing and regulation of online gambling, the draft law that it has drawn up in this regard has been found wanting. The draft law was given to the European Commission and Member States on April 14, 2010. The official reaction from the European Commission is a restricted one. Commission spokesman Fabio Pirotta pointed out that certain provisions of the draft law conflicted with European law. He said, "The Commission has studied information sent by Polish authorities and the Gambling Bill project. After a deep analysis it has decided to ask for more information in order to investigate whether the bill is compliant with EU law."

The European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) is a trade association working for a unified online gambling regime in Europe. It has studied the European Commission’s response and has cited the provisions of the Polish draft law that are problematic. The main issue is that these requirements would deter online gaming companies established in other jurisdiction from obtaining a license in Poland. Some of these requirements are highlighted below. The prospective licensee has to be established in Poland either in the form of a joint stock company or in the form of a limited company with a very high share capital. Companies whose shares are quoted on the stock exchanges may not be given licenses. The licensed online gambling operators would have to store their servers in Poland. All online gambling financial transactions would have to be carried out through a Polish bank or in a branch of a foreign bank established in Poland. The requirements for financial guarantees and license fees for online operators are discriminatory when compared with similar requirements for land based operators.

Sigrid Ligne, Secretary General of EGBA, pointed out that some of these requirements would result in duplication of obligations already being met by the gaming operators in their licensing jurisdictions. For example the operators are capable of meeting all requirements related to fraud prevention and consumer protection without being established in Poland. The duplication would add to the cost and leave Polish consumers without a fair and competitive online gaming market. Ligne also said that there were issues on advertising restrictions that could result in Poland being economically unattractive for European Union licensed operators. On behalf of the EGBA Ligne urged the Polish government to revise the draft to bring it in line with European Commission requirements.

Poland cannot implement these laws till August 16, 2010. During this period it is required to respond to the European Commission objections and revise the draft laws. If after August 16 Poland goes ahead with these laws without required changes then the Commission may initiate infringement proceedings.

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