European Casino Association vice-chair Prof Dietmar Hoscher has given a keynote on the challenges of illegal online gambling and the need for strong national actions.
Speaking at the 12th Conference of the European Association of the Study of Gambling inn Malta, Hoscher highlighted relevant case law and secondary legislation at EU level. He said this clearly underlines the principle of subsidiarity and requirement for national licenses for the legal provision of online gambling services without mutual recognition.
He argued that despite the successes of some countries in stopping illegal gambling, the available data shows that the provision of illegal online gambling is on the rise in many EU countries where the issue is not yet sufficiently tackled. The continued provision of unlicensed online gambling services has led to an undermining of consumer protection measures, regulatory efforts at national level and puts tax contributions and funding for good causes at risk. There is also, Hoscher says, a threat of links to organised crime and money laundering in connection with illegal online gambling.
Reacting to these challenges, Hoscher argued in his keynote that: “Policy-makers, regulators and all stakeholders involved need to join forces and stop the provision of illegal online gambling. This requires strengthened enforcement of national gambling legislation through blacklists, IP blocking and payment blocking, as well as cooperation with online platforms and intermediaries. There is clearly a need and willingness to cooperate between regulators, the licensed gambling industry and other stakeholders to effectively tackle the issue.”
The European Association for the Study of Gambling is a think tank at the intersection of academia, industry, regulators and politics that organises the conference every two years with experts from across the globe.
