EUROPEAN REGULATION
In conjunction with Chris Elliott and Verity Young of DLA Piper London, iGaming Business provides a
regulatory snapshot of iGaming markets across the European Union. This includes all regulated products and
legalised operator types within each country, and any impending market updates.
AUSTRIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Licences for sports betting
and horse race betting are available for
private operators on a regional basis within
Austria whereas poker, casino, bingo and
lottery are controlled by the monopoly,
Austria Lotteries.
Status: A recent appeal challenging
Austrian tax legislation is seen as a test
case by other offshore operators targeting
Austrian business. The Member State
has proposed changes to its regulations
(notably a ban on in-play betting) to help
curb match fixing, measures which the
Austrian Bookmakers Association has
agreed to implement.
The Austrian government recently put
forward a proposal to block unlicensed
offshore operators targeting the country,
although next steps are unclear.
BELGIUM
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All products are
available to private operators save for
lotteries, which are reserved exclusively
for the monopoly provider. However,
online operators need to partner up
with local casinos in order to satisfy the
land-based establishment requirement;
or alternatively, apply for one of the 34
retail licences (F1 licences) which can be
extended to cover online (F1+ licence).
Status: The new Belgian government
has published a coalition agreement
which proposes to increase the number
of land-based casinos from 9 to 11.
Accordingly, this will allow online
operators to team up with the new
casinos to offer casino products online.
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Further restrictions and a tightening
of the legal framework is also proposed,
with three decrees having been notified
to the EC. The regulator recently
introduced rules to prevent live casino
products being offered to players unless
the dealers are physically in Belgium. It is
uncertain if the proposed changes will be
implemented this year. The potential for
EC infringement proceedings remains.
The Belgian Gaming Commission
is planning to restrict betting on virtual
sports on the grounds they rely on RNGs
and are therefore similar to slot machines.
BULGARIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery (excluding raffles and
instant lottery games).
Operator Type: Bulgaria’s Gambling Act
became law on 1 July 2012 but licences
were not available until mid-2013 as further
implementing legislation needed to be in
force. Any operator from an EU/EEA
jurisdiction or the Swiss Confederation can
apply for a licence. The Bulgarian regulator
has now issued 12 licences, including to
international operators.
The change from a turnover to a
GGR tax-based system has prompted
a number of operators to apply for a
local licence.
CROATIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All products are available
to private operators save for lotteries,
which are reserved exclusively for the
monopoly provider.
Status: Following Croatia’s accession to
the EU in July 2013, it was understood it
would submit new legislation which was
compatible with European law. However,
on 5 March 2014 the Croatian government
notified a draft bill which seeks to
embolden the position of the monopoly
and local operators. Only land-based
casinos and betting operators can apply
for a licence pursuant to the draft bill. ISP
blocking is also proposed.
CYPRUS
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting and lottery.
Operator Type: OPAP have a
monopoly over lottery operations and
only sports betting licences are available
to private operators.
Status: Cyprus regulated online betting in
July 2012. The government published a
blacklist and warned local ISP providers
that they would face fines for failures to
block sites offering unlicensed gambling
products. Moves in late 2013 to update
the laws further have not resulted in any
substantial changes.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Regulated Gambling Products:
Sports betting, horse racing betting
and lottery.
Operator Type: Online gaming is
not expressly regulated but a limited
number of local licences are available
for Czech companies with Czech share
ownership. Lottery is reserved for
the monopoly.
Status: A draft bill has been published
which creates a local licensing regime
for all gambling activities together with
stringent enforcement measures for any
unlicensed operators. New gambling
legislation has been submitted to
the Czech Parliament and notified
to the European Commission. The
government aims to have the law
implemented by 1 January 2017.