By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The gambling industry is growing all over the globe. And EU countries are no exception. If we look at predictions in Statista, we can see that by 2026, the European gaming market is set to generate a revenue of 126.3 billion euros. This number perfectly reflects the love of European people for gambling and betting.
But what about the governments? Do laws and regulations also “favour” the activities of European online casinos, or do they block the prospects of this sector? We are here to shed light on all these aspects. So, get comfortable and let’s begin.
General Overview of Gambling Regulatory Landscape in the EU
There is no single, centralized legislation and governing body to regulate gambling activities for all countries within the European Union. What does this mean? Each EU member state is autonomous and regulates its gaming services freely. They don’t need a specific unified law for all European countries.
However, all EU member countries must still comply with the general provisions and basic freedoms stated in the TFEU (the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). These may include such fundamental aspects as responsible gambling policies, protection of customer privacy and information, fair gaming, or prevention of underage gaming.
In addition, in some jurisdictions in Europe, such as Portugal, Sweden, and Finland, monopolistic regimes provide online gaming services. A private casino or a state-controlled public company operates these. There are also regulators in the UK such as GamStop, which has led to the emergence of casinos not on GamStop.
France
France has three regulatory bodies responsible for controlling gambling activities within the country. These cover the Française des Jeux, which deals with lotteries and betting games, the Pari Mutuel Urbain, which is entirely in charge of horse racing, and ARJEL, which controls the online gambling market. All these three entities, in turn, are supervised by the National Gaming Authority, ANJ (The French Autorité Nationale des Jeux).
As for the allowed games and gambling products, most forms of betting and gaming are legal in France. Casino operators and bookies need to get one of the following licenses to operate legally in the country.
- License for online poker games and online horse racing (pool betting);
- License for online sports betting (fixed odds betting, pool betting, and live betting).
As you can see, at the moment, there is no license specifically for casino games or exchange and spread betting. This decision has roots in the government’s position classifying casino games as highly addictive. The only legal casino entertainment option available at French casinos is poker. It’s justified by the fact that this game’s results mainly depend on the player’s skills, who can change their gambling strategies based on the gameplay.
Germany
Germany has some of the most complicated gaming regulations in Europe. During the last couple of years, it has made several changes to its laws, the latest being the ban on all online betting sites. The only exception to this decision was horse race betting. The 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling mainly distinguishes between virtual slot games and online casino games, giving each state the right to choose whether to issue a very limited number of licenses to independent operators or impose a state monopoly.
As for physical gambling venues, they work under the regulation of state law instead of federal law. Regional councils are the regulatory bodies responsible for land-based sports betting at the operator level. However, licenses for betting shops must be applied at a state level with the local regulator.
Netherlands
For ages, there was a monopoly in the gaming sector in the Netherlands. However, this monopoly was broken in 2020 after the Senate adopted the Remote Gambling Bill. This new regulation, which came into force on April 1, 2021, allowed foreign gaming companies to invest in the country. Plus, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (NGA), which regulates both digital and land-based gambling activities in the country, enabled the licensing of remote games of chance.
Licensees can now provide games like poker, roulette, and slot machines, as well as fantasy betting, esports and virtual sports betting. However, they should pay quite high taxes and commissions, including 29% of their gross revenue. In addition, the operators have to pay 0.5% to support anti-gambling practices and 1.5% to fund the local regulatory board.
Some Final Thoughts
EU gambling is an industry that is mainly regulated by national policies. There is no single framework covering all of the member countries. Even though this “freedom to offer services” concept has its benefits, such as independence to decide the gambling laws of their own country following the peculiar needs of their people, it also has some drawbacks.
The most obvious one is the difference in rules — there are 28 sets of national regulations working in isolation. This, in turn, leads to policy divergence and fragmentation. In the era when Europeans can easily access platforms operated from anywhere globally, inconsistencies in gambling laws can result in citizens being exposed to various regulations that don’t protect their interests or limit their rights to gamble.
