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Deregulation in the Field of Games on Chance/on-line Gambling – in Favour of Citizens

Authors:
Hana Horak
Kosjenka Dumancic

Keywords: games on chance; on-line gambling; EU regulation; freedom to provide services; EU law.

Abstract:
When we discuss the games on chance regulatory framework we cannot miss the one of its major parts: the on-line gambling issues. The regulation of this area is of outmost importance because of its social impact such as protection of minors, protection of consumers, large possibility of addiction problems and money laundering. At the moment, there is no compliance of these rules at the European Union level. The only source of the secondary law in this area, at the moment, is the European Court of Justice case law. Problems with on-line gambling have been rising permanently since the Internet industry in this area has been the one of the fastest growing industries in the last ten years. Along with that, the questions of cross-border gambling issues are arising as well. Gambling is recognized as one of the fastest growing social problem. This article tents to give an answer if there is a possibility to protect citizens/consumers from bad influences that are caused by on-line gambling? We are certain that one of the possibilities is to comply and regulate the rules dealing with this issue. The EU Law gambling sector is regulated by the rules of free movement of services and according to these provisions the operators are authorized to provide services from one to another European member state. The Member states can restrict that freedom only by overriding reasons in the public interest. According to the recent trends, the restrictions imposed to on-line gambling by each member state vary from being lawful to being illegal. This article gives an overview of current situation in the EU legislation and stresses out the suggestions on what type of regulation is the best for EU citizens.

Pages: 23 to 27

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013

Publication date: November 17, 2013

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2326-9294

ISBN: 978-1-61208-312-4

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Dates: from November 17, 2013 to November 21, 2013