Estonia are joining the growing list of EU Members looking to regulate online gambling, with new legislation proposed to come into effect next year.
Its rare that a week goes by without a major announcement out of Europe regarding a given jurisdictions intent to legislate online gambling - either positively or negatively. The European Commission is trying to herd its members toward a unified and open market approach...with mixed results. Fragmented approaches to online gambling regulation are being adopted by European countries. Some choosing to open their jurisdictions up to foreign operators (albeit after some EC persuasion) and others taking a more protectionist approach.
This week the EC and major online gambling operators had a win of sorts, with the Estonian government declaring its hand to put in place a licensing and regulatory regime, planned to come in to effect as early as January 2010.
The Estonia Gambling Act will allow online gambling companies, not resident or based in Estonia to take bets from Estonians, although subject to onerous licensing stipulations. In order to accept Estonian resident bets, the operator must either be licensed in Estonia (ie in addition to any other EU member regulator license and fee regime) or conduct business via an Estonian licensed sub-contractor.
Further, there is a requirement to have a physical (ie server/hardware) presence on Estonian soil enabling inspection and audit by local authorities. In the absence of meeting these criteria, the legislation will deem operations illegal and impose blocking obligations on ISPs following notification by authorities.
While the intent to open up markets will be viewed as a positive by the EC and EGBA (European Gambling and Betting Association), it is likely the additional hoops operators must jump through will be scrutinized and possibly deemed in breach of overarching EU law.
Meanwhile, Denmark has also decided to change their approach from the formerly adopted prohibitive stance to Igaming, at the coaxing of the EC. In 2007 Denmark introduced laws prohibiting foreign online gambling operators, while allowing local operator Dansk Spil to continue accepting wagers from local players. Now it seems this is all soon to change, with proposed legislation currently before EC review that will allow operators like Ladbrokes, William Hill etc to access Danish players.
Never a dull moment in the world of online gambling and politics in Europe.
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