EUROMAT News 23 September 2011

MEMBER STATE NEWS

21/09/11 – The Irish Government announced that it will immediately begin work on a new gambling bill that will modernise current laws, which date from 1931 in the case of betting and 1956 for gaming. Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter said that the shortcomings of the current regulation, such as the absence of any regulation on online gambling, put      youth and vulnerable adults at risk.    The    new   law   will   cover   betting, gaming, lotteries as well as remote gambling. Amongst others, the Government intends to limit the number of licenses for casinos of modest size, ban fixed-odds betting terminals and establish a unified enforcement structure under the control of the Minister of Finance. The new draft law is expected to be published next year.

20/09/11 – The Czech Parliament approved an amendment setting a uniform donation rate companies operating betting, lottery and other similar games must give to charitable causes. In the Czech Republic, instead of a standard corporate tax, operators are required to donate to charitable causes and public benefits projects a part of their profits, which currently ranges from 6 to 20% depending on the company’s gross winnings. The amendment aims to make the system more transparent and would assign the Lottery Oversight Office with the task of selecting the charities and would give municipalities more power to regulate gambling in their jurisdictions. The new uniform donate rate will take effect from 2012.