German Authorities Under Threat From The EU Over Gambling Ban
As the EU Commission continue their fight with the US government with regards to the online gambling ban in the States a new problem has emerged with the German authorities taking a similar approach. The German government have banned online gambling, with the exception of horse racing and other state run monopolies, which has effectively locked down the German online gambling market.
While clearly in breach of a number of EU regulations the Competition Commission are looking at reaching an amicable solution which will not involve legal action. It is ironic that while fighting the US for access to their online gambling markets the EU has been dealt such a bitter blow by one of their own members. So does this weaken the case against the US, who may well argue they do not have access to the whole of the European market?
The US are bound to bring up this matter the next time formal discussions are instigated and to be honest what viable response would the EU be able to offer? The problem with the whole issue of online gambling is the millions of dollars which is at stake, and the potential for significant further growth in the future. Each and every government around the world seem to feel that they are missing out on massive income as many of these companies are registered in offshore tax havens. So what will happen longer term?
At some stage it seems that the industry and the authorities will come to some kind of formal agreement probably involving some kind of “passport” system whereby only approved companies can trade in various parts of the world. Exactly how this would be administered and monitored is still unclear but this situation cannot drag on forever.
