Half a Million Dutch are gambling illegally

How is it possible that online gambling is still illegal in a sophisticated and modern country such as the Netherlands?  As we have pointed out many times in articles on this site, EU legislation is clear in that it demands free trade in goods and services and online gaming certainly falls within that description and if a company has a gaming license in one of the EU countries it should be valid in all countries. The EU commission has repeatedly requested the Dutch Government to change its laws but it has failed to do so. According to Minister Hirsch Ballin who has had an investigation carried out there are now more than half a million people in the country who are gambling illegally online. It seems that either the question of legality is not of concern to those people or that they firmly believe that what they are doing should not be illegal. We have heard in the USA of bank accounts being frozen and several of the well known bookmakers will not accept wagers from US citizens but so far we have heard nothing of any action from the Dutch government except for attempts to close down sites that are operating from within the country but if sites are operating from another EU country it becomes somewhat more difficult. Will the Dutch change their laws anytime soon? That remains to be seen. What we do know is that there is a thriving gambling industry in the country which just happens to be a state owned monopoly!