EUROMAT News Bulletin

MEMBER STATE NEWS

01/08/12 – In the UK, the Responsible Gambling Trust and GamCare have signed a new three-year funding agreement to secure the provision of treatment services for gamblers and others adversely affected by gambling through to 31 March 2015.

30/07/12 – The main Spanish land-based gambling companies that obtained online licences in Spain have established a new trade association, Empresarios del Juego Online Asociados (EJOA), with the aim of optimising synergies between both channels (i.e. land-based and online gambling), improving regulation and harmonization. The association will include casinos, bingos, betting houses, gaming arcades and hotel establishments.

30/07/12 – The new Government of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein continues to work with the aim of abolishing the existing online gambling legal framework adopted by the previous Government in 2011. Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister-President, Torsten Albig, confirmed the Government’s intention to align its framework with the other 15 states under a common gambling law. The new Interstate Treaty on Gambling entered into force in all other 15 states on 1 July 2012.

27/07/12 - The Portuguese Government is determined to regulate online gambling for sports betting, horse racing and poker. An inter-ministerial committee, specially formed to work on this, has prepared a report with three alternative regulatory models. In particular, the committee has recommended an opening of the online sports betting market under the control of the state monopoly, Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa. The new legislation could be passed by the end of the year.

27/07/12 - A study commissioned by The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has concluded that a taxation regime for sports betting based on a Gross Profits Tax (GPT) will result in more income for the Italian Government and better social protection measures for Italian consumers. The report, which was prepared by KPMG, an international firm offering audit, tax and legal, advisory and accounting services, found that the current tax on stakes leads to substantially worse value for consumers, which would largely explain why an increasing number of Italian sports bettors prefer to gamble with operators based outside of Italy.