Commissioner Barnier Announces the Adoption of the EU Commission Action Plan and Staff Working Document (SWD) for Online Gambling in Europe

London and Brussels (23 October 2012) Commissioner Barnier, Member of the EC in charge for
Internal Market and Services, announced the adoption of the EU Commission action plan and Staff
Working Document (SWD) for online gambling in Europe.

London and Brussels (23 October 2012) Commissioner Barnier, Member of the EC in charge for
Internal Market and Services, announced the adoption of the EU Commission action plan and Staff
Working Document (SWD) for online gambling in Europe. This is the first step taken by the EU
Commission, following the Green Paper consultation process, setting out to create a ‘comprehensive
framework for online gambling in Europe.
A series of initiatives taking place over the next couple of years will demonstrate the Commission’s
commitment to ensuring effective consumer protection and simultaneously compliance with EU
legislation across Member States.
Measures foresee the adoption by the Commission of three Recommendations on i) responsible
protection of consumers ii.) responsible gambling and advertising iii.) the prevention and fight
against betting-related match-fixing. Importantly, the Commission also aims to foster closer
cooperation between Member States and regulatory authorities. An expert group will be formed to
fulfill this aim with its first meeting set for December 2012.
Although the Commission reaffirmed the right of Member States to set the objectives of their
policies on online gambling, it also stated that the compliance of national law with EU legislation is a
prerequisite for successful policy on online gambling. As a consequence, the Commission will review
the progress of national online gambling legislation and renew its commitment to further
investigating any outstanding infringement cases. In addition, the SWD sets out a series of ‘red lines’
which Member States should respect when regulating online gambling in their jurisdictions in order
to remain compliant.
WrB Europe (28 November 2012, Brussels) will bring together the key stakeholders involved in the
European gambling industry in the first summit focusing exclusively on the EU action plan and Staff
Working Document. The EU Commission will be actively involved in discussions throughout the day,
alongside the EU Parliament and the European Partial Agreement on Sport (European Council). For
more information on the summit, including the full speaker list and all the latest information
surrounding the action plan please visit www.wrbriefing.com/europe
Silvia Peneva, Conference Producer for WrB Europe, said, “WrB Europe offers all the sectors of the
gambling industry, the national regulatory authorities and EU institutions a platform to come
together for the first time to exchange views on the EU Commission’s important step forward
following the Green Paper consultation. We are very excited to be able to host 40 high-level
speakers from across the industry, the Member States and the EU institutions in what promises to
be an intense day filled with debate and negotiation over the future of iGaming regulation in Europe.