The European Commission (EC) is busy lately warning countries who are in violation of EU trade regulations, the United States, France and the Netherlands were all warned by the EC, and now Belgium can be added to that list. They have submitted a new online gambling law to the EC, which found the law violates trade regulations.
The EC reviewed the new online gambling laws send to them by the Belgian government, these laws appear to be in violation of EC trade rules. The Belgian proposal has some problems in a number of areas which violate the rules, the biggest problem is the clause that determined that all online casino providers are required to be established within the country. EC legislators also found other problems with the law, including a clause that imposes sanctions against Belgian gamblers who gamble on foreign internet casinos which have a license within the EU and a reduction in the number of licenses. The Belgian government also wanted to force filter software on their Internet service providers (ISP’s) to block access to licensed European gambling sites for the Belgians, something the EC feels strongly against. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), which crushed the Belgian law submitted the request for the review to the EC. The Director for Regulatory Affairs of the EGBA, Maarten Haijer said: “The requirement for operators to be established in Belgium is one of the clearest violations of EC Treaty provisions, It wrongly denies that many online gaming operators are effectively regulated, licensed and controlled elsewhere in the EU.” The decision of the EC ensures that Belgium has to introduce an acceptable plan before July 30th, and if they decide to implement the law, then the EC has the right to begin the process seeking infringement penalties.
