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Malta Steps Up in Online Gambling Debate

Posted on September 29th, 2010

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Online gambling operations in Malta are thriving, and so far, it has attracted over 250 companies to base their operations in the country. These operations have actually caused the country to develop, and has in fact become its flagship industry since 21st century. Since Malta is a member of the European Union, it is also subject to the EU Treaty, which guarantees member states to host companies that provide various services within member countries, allowing these firms to flourish. The country’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority in Malta has established a system that has become an international standard for all other countries when it comes to the regulation and control of the activities of operators of online gambling sites. In turn, the industry has been providing jobs to 2,500 residents of Malta in various fields. With IT jobs also came jobs in the fields of law, finance, technology and communication. Moreover, the country now runs a “smart” economy, since the infrastructure that the online gaming companies have provided has created the foundation to increase the internet bandwidth use in the area.

With the establishment of the online casino industry in the country, Malta is now one of the leaders when in encouraging nations of the European Union to hold their economies in a sustainable and balanced manner. The only other countries that have so far supported the industry aside from Malta are France, the UK and Italy. Other countries such as Germany, Austria, the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, while comfortable with online gambling, believe that they should be run by each country, and are thus not comfortable with a regulated and open system that would be implemented for the whole continent, Meanwhile, Denmark and Finland only regulates a portion of online gambling in their countries, with the “having their cake and eating it too” approach. Switzerland and Estonia will be opening an online casino industry next year. Other countries have yet to make their positions clear whether or not they will commit to complying with the rules provided by the European Court of Justice and Treaty rules.

This week, an initiative was promoted to construct a common definition for “illegal gambling” by the European Union, currently presided by Spain. The only country against this was Malta. With the opposition of Malta, other ministers of EU member countries have continued to collaborate and prepare for a legal framework on online gambling to be applied to the whole European Union. The standing definition of the EU for Illegal gambling as of the moment is “gambling in which operators do not comply with the national law of the country where services are offered, provided those national laws are in compliance with E.U. treaty principles.”

The Spanish progress report, Malta is already a good and balanced indicator of the current gaming landscape in the continent. Malta adds that the reason why it does not agree with the definition of illegal gambling proposed by other member states is that the concept of legality is not communal, meaning that one member state may give a certain operator a license, while the other states may still consider them illegal. A spokesman for the country commented in a Competitive Congress meeting, “For this reason, Malta considers that the suggested definition does not factually reflect current circumstances and recent development. Malta has one of the most advanced regulatory regimes and this is in full compliance with E.U. legislation. The checks and controls exercised by Malta ensure the integrity of the operations conducted in or from Malta. Hence, while defining illegal gambling due consideration must also be given to such advanced regulatory regimes,”

The European Internal Market Commissioner, Michel Barnier, who has just been appointed recently, confirmed the he would seek a more consistent manner to address the concern of cross border gaming in the continent. He said he will be launching public consultation sessions on the issue and will publish a Green Paper that will address proposals to provide solutions to the debate of illegal gambling. The latest European Court of Justice ruling with regard to gambling is with an issue with Netherlands, wherein the European Court of Justice said that the Netherlands should not promote a monopoly in their gambling industry, for other players outside the country to participate.