Online Casino Gambling Suffers A Setback In Europe

Online gambling has suffered a minor setback in Europe. The advocate general, Paolo Mengozzi, whose opinion is widely followed by the EU Court, released his conclusions that EU member states were not obliged to allow foreign gambling firms to penetrate their home territory only because they were licensed in another EU state. Mengozzi released his conclusions regarding seven cases that focused on the compatibility of German gambling issues with EU legislation.

Unfortunately, this comes as a blow for the online gambling industry in Malta and Gibraltar because the Advocate General has said that offshore licenses granted by these countries have distorted the mutual trust between EU member states when it comes to online gambling laws.

The European Union continues to drag its feet on the issue of online gambling. They need to put
together some clear rules and regulations for member nations to adhere to. Europeans should be
able to play at any of the online casinos licensed within any of the EU member states without
the individual states being able to restrict access to protect their own gambling monopolies.
This would enable the EU gambling industry to remain competitive and offer players the
best incentives to play at their online casino establishments. It would be the best option for the players, but governments in Europe aren’t likely to open up their gambling markets to other countries unless the EU has some clear rules in place for cross-border gambling.

The Advocate General’s opinion doesn’t decide the law, but the European Commission seldom
decides against the opinion of the Advocate General. The judges have now started deliberating
the gambling issue and their judgement will be handed down in the not too distant future.