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Online gaming and betting: the Consumer Rights Directive will offer increased protection to players throughout the EU
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes the proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive. The directive will introduce a single set of consumer rights and will strengthen consumer protection throughout the Internal Market, including for players of online gaming and betting. It will guarantee a high level of protection for consumers wherever they want to play and regardless of whether they do it on- or offline.
According to Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA; “the directive will build upon the existing protection that EU and national legislation already gives consumers in this sector. It will significantly add to the trust and confidence consumers will have in cross border gaming and betting”.
The directive will lead to increased transparency, balanced and fair contract terms and an overall increased security for the player. The underlying maximum harmonisation principle ensures that these rights will be at a similar and high level wherever the consumer plays.
With this directive, European consumers wanting to participate in cross border online gaming and betting with an EU licensed operator, will be protected by two mayor pieces of EU consumer protection legislation. The Unfair Commercial Practices directive, which is in place since the end of 2007, already prohibits misleading and aggressive sales practices in the EU gambling sector. Additionally, a number of Member States have extended the requirements of the 3rd Money Laundering Directive to the online gaming sector.
Next to the EU legislation, EU online gaming and betting operators are also subject to regulations in their licensing jurisdictions. These regulations impose stringent requirements covering a wide range of areas such as player protection, responsible advertising and fraud prevention.
In addition to the legislative protection that is provided by both EU and Member State legislation, the EGBA has developed a comprehensive set of additional standards that covers all aspects of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behaviour in the online gaming and betting environment. This self regulation also ensures, given the cross border nature of the sector, consistency of standards across Europe to guarantee consumers can play in a safe, secure and reliable environment (http://www.egba.eu/en/about/conduct).
With a view to urgently increase cross border consumer confidence, EGBA calls upon the Council and the European Parliament to come to a timely agreement on the proposal. EGBA emphases that – in the interest of the protection of the players – the gaming and betting sector needs to remain within the scope of the directive.
About EGBA: For further information or comment please contact:
Sigrid Ligné: +32 (0) 2 256 7527
The EGBA is an association of the leading European gaming and betting operators Bet-at-home.com, bwin, Digibet, Expekt, Interwetten, PartyGaming and Unibet. EGBA is a Brussels-based non-profit making association. It promotes the right of private gaming and betting operators that are regulated and licensed in one Member State to a fair market access throughout the European Union. Online gaming and betting is a fast growing market, but will remain for the next decades a negligible part of the overall European gaming market in which the traditional land based offer is expected to grow from € 80 Billion GGR in 2007 to € 95 Billion GGR in 2012, thus keeping the lion’s share with 90,6% of the market. Source: Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, May 2008