EU on Online Slots

In a similar situation that the United States had to figure out when they were figuring out how to balance the power of the states versus the power of the federal government, the EU is trying to establish groundrules for how to deal with online gambling. The EU Commission is trying to enforce some universal rules that all member countries (states) must follow, with regard to online gambling. Up till now, all of the states have their own rules for online slots and poker gambling, and therefore it’s been hard to regulate. Some have actually outlawed the practice, while others have an open market, and still others have a public state-run monopoly. Sweden of course has their privately run state owned monopoly in Svenska Spel, which has been a successful model, but other EU countries are complaining that it is unfair to exclude everybody else from getting in on the Swedish action.

The EU has conducted several studies to try to tabulate the actual effects that online gambling is having on the population across several demographics. A major issue is that the report has suggested that there are some underage players that are still gaining access to several online casinos, which is one of the major arguments of anti online gambling organizations. Furthermore, taxation laws are different across the various countries, and the differences are causing some issues to be raised about the resiliency of the Union in the first place.

The EU was established in the first place so that Europe could move into the new century with economic viability and solidarity as a whole continent, as opposed to trying to compete in a global market as individual countries. However the latest differences in how the countries feel they should deal with online gambling is a perfect example of what can happen when so many ideologies try to operate as a cohesive unit.