The European Commission has initiated legal action against Sweden after ruling that the country has failed to change rules on online betting and poker games that the organisation claims breach European Union (EU) law on the free movement of services.
The Reuters news agency reports that the EU’s executive referred Sweden to the continent’s highest court in two separate cases related to its restriction of gambling licences to domestic and state-owned operators only.
Sweden only grants licences to national operators and state-owned entities – an approach that the Commission claims conflicts with EU rules on the free movement of services.
“Sweden is referred to the Court of Justice for imposing restrictions on the organisation and promotion of online betting services in a way which is inconsistent with EU law,” the Commission said.
“Changes to the Swedish gambling law in order to make it compliant with EU law have long been envisaged but never implemented.”
EU law states member nations are allowed to impose restrictions on the cross-border supply of certain types of gambling activity to protect people against addiction or prevent crime if the national regulator is able to demonstrate such measures are suitable and necessary.
In the first case, which relates to online betting, the Commission said that Sweden’s licensing system for this form of gambling was not applied in a systematic way and the national authorities did not adequately supervise the commercial activities of the exclusive service provider.
In response, the Swedish government said that its intention was to “speed up the work that has been carried out for a long time in order to find a licensing system that could be introduced in Sweden”.
The second case put forward by the Commission relates to the country’s regulation of online poker games, with the European body stating that Swedish authorities had tolerated the unauthorised offer and promotion of poker games.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
