Europe has been waiting quite a while for Sweden to liberalize its gambling markets and provide scope for new licensing, and Sweden, for its part, has frequently been criticized for the degree of governmental monopolisation which currently still exists in the nation’s domestic gambling sector. Now it seems much is, finally, about to change, as the Swedes push forward with their new legislation, or at least set a timeframe for doing so.
European Commission protocol dictates that there is a three-month window for the EC to respond to new legislation proposed by EU member states, during which they may refuse the proposals on certain grounds or require a review of certain features. The nub of the matter is whether the proposed legislation infringes upon existing EU law in any way. If there is no response from the EC during that three-month window, the member state is usually considered good to go on enacting said legislation. With regard to the new proposals for gambling regulation (and liberalization) put forward by Sweden back in December 2017, that window is now closed.
The new Internet Gaming legislation will now face Parliamentary review and approval. The new model proposed divides the gaming market into three parts, online gambling, gambling for public interest (namely lotteries and bingo), and the state-owned casinos and slot machines.
Provisions are made in the bill for prevention and treatment of problem gamblers, regulations concerning bonuses and withdrawal of funds, and a requirement that ISPs warn people browsing the web concerning sites that are not licensed. The new bill also covers matters of international cooperation, and issues related to fees as well as responsible gambling regulations. Scope is also provided for regulators to bring in restrictions on sites at a later date, as well as to create match-fixing regulations as deemed necessary.
Under the new legislation operators will be able to offer a variety of forms of gambling, including online bingo, virtual slots, and table games such as roulette and poker. Sports betting will be broadly permitted, with certain sports excluded such as the local Swedish trotting.
Sweden has since submitted fresh legislation to the EC stating that the new licensing process won’t begin until August 1st of this year. Furthermore, the regulations won’t officially apply in full until the start of 2019. Licensing fees will amount to the equivalent of just under €40,000 for gambling services, and just under €70,000 for offering gambling and sports betting services jointly.
