At the end of June 2012 Global Betting and Gaming Consultants attended the debate held at the European Parliament on ‘How To Better Regulate Gambling And Betting In Europe?’
Much was made of Commissioner Barnier’s announcement at the meeting that the European Commission will renew its action against EU member states whose gambling regulation is not compatible with EU law. Barnier said:
“the Commission is going to contact all the Member States concerned by ongoing cases or complaints in order to remind them of the applicable rules and suggest that any problematic situations are rectified in line with current case law. If blatant infringements persist, I will not hesitate to propose to my colleagues that the appropriate proceedings be taken or relaunched.”
Here, GBGC highlights some of the other comments, opinions, and news from the debate.
Match fixing is one of the “main threats” to the integrity of sport and it is “high on the political agenda”
The new seven-year EU budget (2014-2020) will include a budget for sport and its integrity to run “education programmes” and “awareness raising campaigns”.
He argued that there is no such thing as a “grey market” in gambling. There is just legal and illegal.
He emphasised the state lotteries’ contribution to tax revenues and good causes in Europe.
He stated national level regulation is best for gambling, not EU level harmonisation. He took the view that a comparable taxation rate should be applied to online gaming as for casinos. The online gambling business model should change, not the tax level changing to accommodate the business model
He argued that the tote (pari-mutuel) model of betting was the best means for combating corruption in sport and illegal gambling.