European Countries Debate

A recent report revealed that the European governments will not be opening their online gambling and online casino markets to foreign companies. This report was released by The Economist and according to that report the European Union is cracking down on a lot of the internet gambling companies. Most of the cracking down is taking place in the Netherlands mostly due to the fact that a majority of the foreign betting was taking place there. They currently only allow the residents of the Netherlands to play at the state owned online casino monopoly, De Lotto. It seems like the stance that they are taking there is similar to the steps that were taken by the United States, which is to tighten up on the banks and the financial institutions that associate or do business with those online casinos.

The intent of the European government is to protect their consumers but there are some people who think that is an excuse. The report in The Economist featured a study that was conducted by the Gambling Compliance which released the fact that several countries were contemplating having their internet service providers block access to online casinos to their subscribers. Those countries are Sweden, Estonia, Hungary and Germany. The taxes for gambling in Sweden and in The Netherlands is set at 29 percent. So the profit that the government makes from online casinos in Europe is approximately $5 billion a year. That is exactly why this is a big issue, if they outlaw online casinos then they loose that revenue. The online casino report said, "In February the Dutch Ministry of Justice warned banks in the country that they could be prosecuted for transferring money from the accounts of Dutch residents to those of online-gambling firms abroad."