The Commission's Issues
The Belgian government could be in hot water with the European Commission this
month as a result of Belgium’s decision to pass new online casino gambling
regulations that do not fully comply with EU free trade policies. The
Commission’s biggest job right now has been the bringing about a dozen EU
member-states into compliance and to eliminate that land and internet gambling
monopolies with the EU that block licensed and legal foreign online casinos from
fairly accessing the market. As the Belgian government drafted these new
regulations, the Commission issued requests and warnings about compliance with
open trade laws – they didn’t seem to work. The new Belgian laws show a blatant
disregard for EU policies and treaties.
One of the key problems with the new Belgian gambling regulations centers on the
limits that the government has placed on gambling licenses for the country. The
government will allow some foreign companies to operate in the Belgian market,
but they have to jump through too many hoops to do so according to the
Commission. Not only are there severe and unjust restrictions on the number of
licenses issued, but online casinos and betting companies will have to host
their servers within Belgium. The new laws came into effect at the beginning of
December and the Belgian government hasn’t even formally addressed the
Commission’s concerns.
The Commission has been watching the developments of Belgium’s new online casino
gambling regulations for some time now, and has actively suggested areas of
concern. Unfortunately, the Belgium government was never very receptive to the
suggestions and has now passed new regulations that the Commission will have to
follow up on with negotiations and a possible recommendation to the European
Court of Justice. |