SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Maarten Haijer, Secretary General for the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), has made public that the European Commission (EC) should follow through on promises to take the Swedish Government to the European Union Court of Justice over failure of the state to overhaul its online gambling regulations.
Haijer warned that if the EC failed to act on this igaming matter, it would risk never being taken seriously by other European jurisdictions.
Haijer, commented : “For many years changes have been announced and Sweden has had ample time to adept its regulation to comply with EU law. Nothing has happened. Sweden is one of the few member states that is not yet introducing such legislation, but with consumer demand steadily increasing this is inevitably the future, If the status quo remains, it is clear that the European Commission will have no other option than to refer Sweden to the European Court.”
Haijer further commented: “The European Commission has been questioning Sweden’s gambling monopoly since 2006,” he explained. “The [European] Commission is clearly convinced that Sweden’s gambling monopoly is not in conformity with EU law.”
The Secretary General has been supported by members of the swedish igaming sector; Per Hultengård Chief Executive of Tidningsutgivarna criticized current region regulation and governance claiming that it lacked consistency: “It is in everyone’s interest to re-regulate the Swedish market and create a multi-licensing regime. As I said before, inaction will no doubt lead to Sweden being taken to the European Court.”
