The European Commission announced on Thursday that it is dropping all infringement procedures against Member States in relation to online gambling. The institution explained that it has always tried to pursue its political priorities and this approach has been reflected in its treatment of infringement cases.
The Commission will thus focus its attention on cases it believes are more important in terms of “public and private interests” involved.
The regulation of online gambling has been an important topic in a number of European countries over the past several years. Many of these countries have been the subject of heavy criticism from the industry due to the restrictive measures adopted by them that oftentimes violate fundamental EU principles, including the freedom for the provision of services within the union’s borders.
There have been multiple occasions on which online gambling industry stakeholders have turned to the European Commission to interfere in the legalization and regulatory processes undertaken by EU member states.
In its Thursday statement, the Commission said that it would continue helping member states in their fight against unregulated gambling and in their efforts to protect vulnerable customers from falling victims to unauthorized operators. However, it will leave it to national courts to handle infringement cases as it believes they will be able to do this more efficiently.
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