Romanian Online Gambling Draft Rejected

0 Comments   Email   Print

Many European nations have made moves to regulate online gambling. The reason is more likely the lure of tax revenues from this activity rather than initiatives from the European Commission (EC). And therefore each country has tried to formulate regulations that would best serve its interest. However, the draft national laws have to be approved by the EC and some have passed this test, whereas others have failed.

The Romanian draft law was the latest to be vetted by the EC and unfortunately it has failed. The EC has issued a detailed statement highlighting those provisions of the proposal are not compatible with European Union (EU) law. Heading the list are the requirements for the applicants, already holding licenses from other EU jurisdictions, to be established in Romania and to locate their servers in Romania. The ban on marketing and advertising activities for EU listed companies that are not authorized in Romania has been termed discriminatory and hence not acceptable. Another provision considered unjustified by the EC is the exclusion of online pool betting. All other forms of online gambling are being allowed as per the draft legislation. This implies that Romania will not be able to enact this draft proposal but will have to make the required changes and obtain EC acceptability. If it goes ahead without addressing the objections raised by the EC it could face infringement proceedings under EU law.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), which is a trade body comprising Europe's major online gambling operators, was quick to react. The EGBA welcomed the Romanian move to reform and legalize online gambling but added that there has to be consistency in the rules and regulations enacted by the different nations. Sigrid Ligne, Secretary General of EGBA, said, "As confirmed by the ECJ [European Court of Justice] in its recent rulings, there are less restrictive means than forced establishment to monitor and control the online gaming and betting market." Ligne pointed out that Romania was the third European country in the last 12 months to have been asked by the EC to re-notify and adjust its draft legislation. The other two were Denmark and Poland.

Romania had notified its draft legislation to the EC and Member States on July 2, 2010. Now the EC has extended the standstill period until November 3. Romania cannot adopt its draft legislation till the expiry of this period. The standstill period for The Netherlands expires this week. If the EC does not raise any objections till then, the process of applying for licenses could begin very soon. The Netherlands could become the next country after France to legalize online gambling.<

News Item Tools

 Email     Print     Digg     Del.icio.us    StumbleUpon

Comments

 Add Comment

Add Comment

More News