The government of Belgium Continues Online Casino Restriction

The government of Belgium continues to advance its proposed rules for online casinos and Internet gambling, despite an opinion from the European Commission that many of the provisions do not adhere to the European Union Treaty. Belgian regulations would require a physical presence in the country, even though EU open market rules require Belgium to accept operations based in other EU territories.The Belgian rules would also demand Internet casino operators acquire a Belgian license, which are to be limited in number and to favor Belgian companies in the approval process. Again, EU rules state that Belgium must recognize the licensing authority of other EU member nations as its own.The EU is designed on the principle of the single market, in which all members compete freely with each other, unbound by tariffs or regional protectionism. But many EU states are failing to honor the provision requiring free trade in services, which includes online gambling.France and Germany are among the nations risking infringement proceedings from the EC for failure to allow proper competition by other EU nations regarding their gambling markets.The Belgian system would effectively exclude other nations from entering the Belgian market, leaving domestic operators a protected and restricted environment in which to run online casinos. By disregarding the EC opinion, Belgium joins the list of countries facing potential damages for failure to follow EC regulations.