Newsletters

August 2019

Europe’s monthly online gambling news EGBA reaction to Norway court ruling on payment blockings On 16 August, the Oslo City Court ruled on two of three claims brought by Entercash, a payments service provider, and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) against Norway’s payment blocking measures in the online betting sector. The Oslo court ruled against EGBA and Entercash’s two subsidiary claims and found there was a sufficient legal basis in Norwegian law for the Norwegian gaming authority to block online betting payments from Norwegian citizens to Entercash. The court has not ruled on the main third claim that the payment transaction ban is an illegal restriction on the EU freedom to provide services within the European Economic Area (EEA). > View online EGBA partner with Clarion on responsible gambling webinar series EGBA is partnering with Clarion Gaming to participate in their ongoing Responsible Gambling Webinar Series, which provides...

July 2019

Europe’s monthly online gambling news EGBA's message to the new European Commission: Don’t bet against online consumers (blog) If you’ve read news headlines over the past year, you’ve probably noticed the well-publicized scandals involving social media companies and their use of consumer data... In truth, much of this is the result of regulations struggling to keep pace with the internet’s rapid, cross-border, and technological development. There is no doubt this technological step-change has raised questions about where the rights of consumers, the interests of online businesses, and good regulation can intersect harmoniously. I recognize these challenges. The internet revolution has moved my own sector — betting — from traditional side-street bookmaker shops into the computers of millions of customers, just overnight. Today more than 12 million Europeans regularly bet online, conducting nearly 1 million financial transactions to and from our member companies each day. > View online EGBA presents to...

June 2019

Europe’s monthly online gambling news EGBA: Online consumers must be at the center of EU single market rules On 27 May, European Economy ministers called on the European Commission to propose measures to modernise Europe’s single market to make it fit for purpose in the digital age. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes the Competitiveness Council’s conclusions and urges the incoming European Commission and Parliament to ensure Europe’s online consumers are put at the center of EU single market policies. Unfortunately, the current European Commission has failed to fully enforce the freedom to provide services in many online sectors – including online gambling where in 2017 it decided to shelve infringement cases in the sector. > View online Maltese Gaming Authority CEO: regulatory cooperation important, EU harmonisation of the online gambling sector logical next step Predicting how the chips would fall, in 2004 Malta became the first EU...

May 2019

Europe’s monthly online gambling news EGBA’s manifesto for the new EU term As Europeans head to the polls on 23-26 May, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is calling on the incoming European Parliament and Commission to act in the online gambling sector to ensure Europe’s online gamblers are better protected. With online betting now representing more than 20% of the EU gambling market, the lack of common EU rules for online betting is jeopardising players safety when they play online. That’s because EU countries have different rules for regulating online gambling and there are significant disparities in the quality of these national regulations, including the consumer protections available to online gamblers. Read more about the manifesto in the weblink below. Source: EGBA. > View online EGBA’s Online Gambling Focus – Spring 2019 - Intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) rights and their relationship with online gambling is the...

April 2019

Intellectual property (IP) rights and their relationship with online gambling is the topic for our first Online Gambling Focus of 2019. With more advertising now taking place online, there are risks that the placement of and revenue from advertising might be used to fund websites which breach IP rights. A common example of this is product advertising displayed on streaming websites that feature content which infringes IP rights. In this edition we are pleased to have contributions from both the EU and the advertising sector. Harrie Temmink, from the European Commission, elaborates on the EU-led initiatives to safeguard IP rights online and Stevan Randjelovic, from GroupM, gives his perspective on the role of advertisers in keeping advertising compliant with IP rights. Don’t want to miss the latest news? Sign up here to receive our monthly newsletter direct to your inbox.    

April 2019

Europe’s monthly online gambling news EGBA event: 2019 European Elections: The Case For And Against The EU On 10 April, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) co-hosted with EU media outlet POLITICO an event “2019 European Elections: The Case For and Against the EU” which brought together political experts, bookmakers, pollsters and journalists to debate the future of the European Union and their predictions around the upcoming European elections. Participating at the event was Matthew Shaddick, Head of Politics at Ladbrokes, and Mr Henrik Tjärnström, the CEO of Kindred Group, who delivered a keynote speech about why the incoming European Commission and Parliament need to make the EU single market work better for Europe’s online consumers and digital sectors, like online gambling. You can watch the full event (80mins) via the weblink below. Source: EGBA. > View online Europe’s Single Market rules need to be better enforced to benefit...