EUROPEAN REGULATION
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. The
receipt of a Detailed Opinion from the EC stalled
the legislative process and there have been no
developments since.
CYPRUS
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting
and lottery.
Operator Type: OPAP have a monopoly over
lottery operations; sports betting licences will be
available to private operators.
Status: Cyprus regulated online betting in July
2012 (although licences are not yet available). 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. Draft amendments to Cyprus’ gambling
legislation are intended to address compatibility
issues raised by the European Commission’s letter
of formal notice, but the exact implementation
timetable has not been confirmed.
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 to amend Czech Republic’s
gambling legislation was approved by the Czech
Parliament on 13 April 2016 and will now be
passed to the Senate for consideration. The
draft bill, once implemented, will allow EEA
Sponsored by
companies to apply for online licences, which the
Czech government hopes will address criticism
received from EU regulators and Malta of previous
proposals.
DENMARK
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Sports betting, poker and casino
licences are available to private operators. Bingo,
lottery and horse race betting (fixed odds only) is
controlled by the state monopoly.
Status: The Danish online gambling regime went
live on 1 January 2012.
ISP-blocking measures are active in the
jurisdiction and the Danish Gaming Authority
has been granted an injunction in order to block
operators and suppliers that have been targeting
Danish customers without the requisite licence.
In December, the government adopted two
amendment bills which create specific licences
for fantasy sports opera tors, as well as bring about
certain new match-fixing and AML measures.
ESTONIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Licences for all gambling products
are available for private operators save that the
monopoly has exclusive rights to lottery.
Status: Only 18 operators are currently licensed
in the jurisdiction, 10 of which relate to online
gambling. A “blacklist” of around 1,100 operators
is constantly maintained and updated by local
authorities and ISP blocking is in force. A new law
which introduces new player protection measures
and relaxes certain online sports betting advertising
restrictions came into force in June 2015.
FINLAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All gambling products are under
the exclusive control of the three monopoly
providers, Raha-automaatiyhdistys (“RAY”), Fintoto
Oy and Veikkaus Oy. The monopolies are soon-to-
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