The European Commission has expanded its efforts to maintain open trade borders among member states by focusing its attention on the state gambling monopolies that are in place in Holland and Greece.

The laws in these countries are either calling for, or already call for, a ban on foreign operators within their borders, essentially blocking their citizens from playing online poker and other casino games unless through a state firm

The European Union announced recently that it would begin to formally pursue proceedings against the Netherlands and Greece and request that they remove the restrictions, or the intended restrictions, to suit the spirit of the EU treaties that have been signed along the years. 

In recent months, the Dutch government has set in motion the process that will eventually lead to legislation very similar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was signed into law in the United States in 2006. Essentially, the state gambling operator, Holland Casino, will be granted an exclusive three-year contract, meaning that Dutch poker players would need to go through this site if they wanted a game – obviously subject to restrictions.

A similar story is unfolding in Greece, after the Greek government granted a gambling monopoly to a publicly listed company, OPAP, that operates within the country and even beyond its borders. The European Union has a serious issue with the fact that OPAP is free to operate in Greece while foreign poker and casino companies are barred from competing in local markets. 

“These particular features of the Greek gaming monopoly and the clear discriminations against EU regulated competitors, left the Commission with no choice but to ensure the respect of basic EU market principles,” said the secretary general of EGBA, Sigrid Ligne. The European Betting and Gaming Association (EGBA), a group set up by several European gaming and betting operators, including PartyGaming, Bwin, etc., were satisfied with the European Union’s decision to formally pursue these issues in Greece and the Netherlands. 

"Today's reasoned opinions send a clear signal that national gaming legislation, which does not serve any genuine consumer protection or public order interest, has no future,” continued Ligne. “Leading European online operators are now calling on Greece and the Netherlands to implement sustainable reforms that will guarantee a fair, open and regulated market access.”