Αρχική Κανονισμός διοργάνωσης και διεξαγωγής τυχερών παιγνίων μέσω του διαδικτύουΆρθρο 01 – ΟΡΙΣΜΟΙΣχόλιο του χρήστη The European Lotteries Association | 25 Ιανουαρίου 2019, 13:39
  • Σχόλιο του χρήστη 'The European Lotteries Association' | 25 Ιανουαρίου 2019, 13:39

    The European Lotteries and Toto Association (EL) appreciates the opportunity to share its views in the Hellenic Gaming Commission consultation on the regulation and technical specifications for the organisation of online gambling in Greece. EL gathers together national lotteries operating games of chance for the public benefit in more than 40 European countries - including all EU Member States - and is by far the largest representative European umbrella organisation in the field of lotteries and gambling. EL is an association representing state lotteries and lotteries authorised by the state, thus bringing together state-owned and private operators. EL’s members offer lottery, gambling and betting services only in the jurisdictions in which they are licensed by the respective national government. EL’s EU members contribute more than 20 billion EUR per year to the state budgets and the funding of sport, culture, social projects, research and other causes of general interest. Our member in Greece is OPAP. EL stands for subsidiarity as an indispensable principle in the regulation of the gambling sector, with EU Member States having the exclusive competence to set the objectives of their gambling policy and to define the modalities to achieve these objectives, based on proportionality and the values of responsibility, society/sustainability and integrity. As the customs of players vary across Europe and indeed across the world, there is not set any successful approach to regulating the gambling sector that would fit across countries. Rightly, the European Union Court has ruled that the principle of ‘mutual recognition’ does not apply in the gambling sector. The gambling sector is an economic sector of highly sensitive nature, where regulation is fundamental and where national legislators identify the right balance between an attractive offer to players and the protection against gambling addiction and fraud. EL sees countries across Europe adopt a wide set of measures which can all be successful depending on the specific national context. EL notes that some countries have prohibited certain forms of betting that they deem to risky, while others have not. Generally, EL advocates a cautious approach whereby the legislator only allows those products on the market that are considered in that national context to not pose too large a risk. It should also be noted that given the special sensitivity of the activities, a government can very rightly authorise only operators that it trusts as well as choose to not authorise operators that are untrustworthy/have abused trust. Also the EU Court confirmed this in its recent ruling C-375/17 (Stanleybet International Betting and Stanleybet Malta). In this Italian case, the EU Court ruled that the national government indeed had the right to refuse an operator that had been referred to a criminal court. The first and foremost objective of any national gambling policy is to protect consumers and fight the risk of fraud. As Greece is taking steps to make changes to its regulatory framework, EL would highlight the need to ensure that the future regulatory framework is a clear one that provides certainty both to consumers and operators. Moreover, it is stressed that any gambling legislative framework is only as strong as the enforcement policy that accompanies it. Without clear law enforcement, the authorised operators see themselves competing against illegal, untaxed operators which can offer much higher payouts to players, are not bound by (advertising) rules and are therefore often more addictive and more attractive to players. Legislators thus need to foresee the adequate law enforcement possibilities. Lack of clear law enforcement severely risks a new regulatory framework put in place. EL believes it is of major importance to have in place a clear regulatory framework, accompanied by an adequate law enforcement which will ensure that those who have been given authorisations can offer their products in the manner intended by the legislator and consumers are protected from overly addictive offerings and fraud. Further information about EL is available at www.european-lotteries.org