EUROPEAN REGULATION
Romania
Regulated gambling products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Any operator from an EU/EEA
jurisdiction or the Swiss Confederation can apply for
a licence. Lottery games remain reserved for
the monopoly.
Status: The Gambling Law (as amended) introduced
a legal framework for a fully regulated online
gambling market and requires licences to be held by
online gambling operators, as well as software
providers, payment processors, affiliates and testing
labs. After some delay, the secondary legislation that
fully implemented the new licensing regime came
into force on 26 February 2016. In December 2018,
the Romanian government approved an ordinance
which, among other things, introduces a new 2% tax
on player deposits for online gambling operators
as of 1 January 2019.
Slovakia
Regulated gambling products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Private operators can apply for
licences for online casino as of 1 March 2019 and for
sports betting licences from 1 July 2019. Lottery and
bingo remain reserved for the monopoly provider.
Status: A new Gambling Law came into force on 1
March 2019. The Gambling Law allows private
operators outside of Slovakia to apply for licences for
sports betting and casino, although sports betting
licences will not enter into effect until July 2020.
Slovenia
Regulated gambling products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Online gambling must be operated
by land-based casinos or lotteries and, as a result,
only the monopoly holds online licences in Slovenia.
Status: Draft amendments to the Gaming Act were
published in 2015, which aim to remove the current
local establishment requirement. The proposal,
which is yet to be submitted to the Slovenian
parliament, was expected to be adopted in early 2019.
Whether any amendments will introduce a formal
licensing system remains unclear.
Spain
Regulated gambling products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Private operators can apply for
licences for all gambling products save for lottery.
Status: Operators must hold a general licence and a
specific licence, both issued by the National Gambling
Commission, for each activity. Remote gambling
licences are granted within specific application
windows. The last tender process for applications
closed on 18 December 2018. The 2018 parliamentary
budget was passed into law in June 2018, resulting in a
reduction to gambling tax effective as of 1 July 2018.
The regulator has introduced a number of new player
protection initiatives. More stringent restrictions on
gambling advertising in the country may take effect in
the near future.
Sweden
Regulated gambling products: Betting (including
sports, horse race, pool, exchanges), casino, poker,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Licences are available for private
operators.
Status: As of 1 January 2019, Sweden is a fully
regulated market. All gambling operators that wish
to offer their services to Swedish residents will be
required to obtain a licence in order to validly do so
(either a ‘betting’ licence or a ‘commercial online
games’ licence, depending on the product(s) being
offered). Active enforcement measures are in place
and the Swedish regulator has already issued a
number of fines to licensed operators for self-
exclusion and marketing failures.
MARKETPLACE 2020
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