Sweden Sued By EU Commission Over Online Gambling Laws

On Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, the European Union (EU) Commission initiated legal proceedings against the nation of Sweden due to its perceived failure to adequately change its rules governing both online betting and poker games. The EU Commission maintains that this failure is a breach of the free movement of those types of services for users on the Web.

An executive from the EU Commission pointed Sweden to two separate cases that took place in the highest court of Europe, both of which involved restrictions of gambling licensed to only state-owned and domestic operators. In a statement, a representative from the Commission indicated that Sweden is imposing restrictions on both the organisation of online betting services as well as the promotion of those services in ways that are contradictory to EU laws.

The statement went on to indicate that while proposed changes to Swedish gambling laws, designed to make them more compliant with the larger European Union law, have long been talked about, they have never been implemented in any type of satisfactory way.

Under the nation’s current laws, Sweden will only grant operational licenses for online betting, poker games and similar types of services to entities that are owned by the state, as well as domestic operators. It is the opinion of the EU Commission that these restrictions dramatically conflict with the free movement of those services and, as a result, legal action is taking place.

According to the current laws regarding the topic in the European Union, its 28 member states are absolutely allowed to impose restrictions on the supply of some type of gambling activity with regards to cross-border actions. These restrictions are designed to both prevent crime and protect people against the devastating effects of addiction, so long as those restrictions are deemed both “suitable” and “necessary.”

When responding to the impending legal proceedings, representatives from the Swedish government indicated that work to help create a licensing system that could be introduced to address these and similar issues would be prioritised.