To the European Commission gaming comes under the service industries category. At present gambling regulations and controls are under national government control, but the Commission want them to be a European issue. The Trade Union Group UNI-Europa and the European Lotteries organization do not agree that gambling is part of the normal service industry and think that the European Commission’s new Directive on services could undermine the present stringent gambling controls.

UNI-Europa, with seven million members in various trades, represents gambling industry workers across the continent. The European Lotteries is an organization for national state lotteries and gambling monopolies. Should gambling fall under the Services Directive of the European Union the two groups think there could be a subsequent relaxation of the tight controls that protect society, prevent money laundering and keep criminals out of the industry.

Consequently, UNI-Europa and European Lotteries have agreed a joint statement urging the Commission to drop the gambling industry from its new Directive. They also warn that any relaxation of gaming controls could increase social problems related to addiction, and highlight the possibility of fraud. Bernadette Ségol of UNI-Europa considers that applying the Services Directive to the gambling sector “will trigger a race to the bottom in the quality and social responsibility of gambling services.”

The General Delegate of European Lotteries, Tjeerd Veenstra, describes the proposed Directive as an incomprehensible attempt to liberalise the gambling and betting market. However, they have a vested interest in the outcome, as the state monopolies would be challenged. The current monopolies give the best guarantees for restrictive gaming policies that provide better control of the market, in their view.

Bernadette Ségol sums up the situation as seen by both groups: “The gambling sector is highly sensitive and has long been recognized as such. It is totally unacceptable that the Commission should push for deregulation without producing any proof of the need or impact of such action.”

In several court cases recently governments are losing the argument to retain state gambling monopolies, or to regulate in ways that prevent other countries carrying out legitimate gaming activities. The Dutch state monopoly is being challenged by Ladbrokes, the US has lost a case brought by Antigua & Barbuda, and the Norwegian government has been told it cannot have a monopoly on gaming machines. If the European Commission wins the right to place gambling in its Services Directive, then gaming is due for a shake-up all over the European Union.

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