European online gambling legislation is in the news

Online casino gambling is once again exercising the minds of politicians, this time it is the turn of our MEPs at the European parliament. This piece of casino news will probably not surprise anyone involved with the gaming industry, nor will the fact that agreement within the European Commission is proving difficult to achieve. The very nature of online casino gambling is such that online casinos can be based almost anywhere in the world and still target a European audience, making legislation extremely difficult to draw up, and even more difficult to enforce. Currently, each member state within the EU is responsible for their own online gambling laws, which as a result vary dramatically from little or no regulation to very strict legislation or even a total ban. Observers of online casino news will have noted the green paper published earlier this year which proposed regulation of online gambling across the EU, and this month’s debate at the committee stage, but it remains far from clear whether the majority of MEPs would even support the idea that the European Commission should attempt to legislate on online gambling. Many MEPs are convinced that online gambling and online casinos should continue to be regulated by the individual member states, whilst many others clearly feel that Europe wide legislation is necessary. A final decision on which approach should be taken is scheduled for October, although details of the committee’s recommendations are not yet widely known. Online casino operators and their investors will clearly follow any news on casino legislation in Europe with interest, but for most gamblers playing casino games online the eventual outcome of these deliberations will probably not make one iota of difference to their online gambling experience.