We live in the age of the internet. Everything that we do is now getting integrated with this global network. Now we can perform tasks from our home that would normally require us to go to the office. Just like our work and education shifted online, our entertainment is also shifting towards this global trend.
The games that we used to go in, the shops we used to bet in now have their online portals, and more than 70% of their users are from these online portals. With every year, the online gaming industry is rising in value. Last year it was nearly 60 million. And if you’re one of these 60 million people, try out bonus code to get some amazing welcome bonus!
For such profitability of the industry, many countries have legalized it so that it can contribute to the economy. But some differ from that. What about the European Union (EU)? Let us have a look at the online gaming regulations in the EU.
Online Gaming Regulations in EU
Do you know what the EU is? It is a special economic system that currently has 27 countries in it. They work under the treaty to better each other. Although they are united, the 27 nations in the EU still have their separate authority and governmental body. Thus they can separately implement a law in their country without affecting the others in the union.
The European Union has no specific law or regulation about online gaming in its lawbook. As a result, the EU countries are free and autonomous to implement any law in their country as they see fit. You will find different rules and laws about online gaming in different countries of the EU.
But all countries have some general laws for stopping money laundering and the gaming companies must follow these rules. All the EU countries are very strict about their laws. They don’t withstand violation of laws.
Common Laws
The common laws for online gaming in all EU countries require the company to have a license. This is common in all countries outside of the EU too. For each country, the company has to seek out the relevant authority figure for licenses. It applies to both online and offline gaming companies. Some countries will force online gaming companies to bring changes in their procedure. The gaming rules and regulations are mainly created to protect the gamblers.
But some EU countries want the online gaming companies to perform a full background check on the players. This is to make sure that the players can afford to bet and lose money also some perception of money laundering applies here.
Customized Laws
While some countries of the European Union allow custom laws, some countries of the EU sticks with the regular laws of online gaming but they only allow certain games for their citizens. Some allow gaming on football only, some only allow to bet on certain football leagues.
Some allow poker and blackjack only and some allow them all. As a result, you will find different types of gaming and gaming opportunities in different European Union countries.
Laws Regarding Age
You will also get to see some variance in the age restriction law for gaming. The age for gaming in most of the European Union countries is 18 years and above. 12 countries within the European Union have applied this rule very strictly. But 5 countries differ from this law. They allow people at the age of 16 to take part in some minor games. It is mainly to let them be a small part of something huge that may later pay off in the future.
But the young minds need to be controlled so that gaming doesn’t become an addiction for them. For that, some EU countries agreed to put on some educational activities to target these players to teach them about the risks of gaming. As a result, they will take part in safe gaming where the odds are low and there is very little chance of you getting bankrupt.
There are also regulations for self-exclusion firms in the EU. Recently these self-exclusion firms like Gamstop have risen in usage. In the EU, 23 countries have these self-exclusion firms legalized. In three countries these firms are triggered voluntarily by the will of the players and 11 of them allow third parties to trigger the self-exclusion mechanism for a player. There is also a difference in the registration process of these self-exclusion firms. 14 of them require national registers. It may not be much of a thing to consider.
Conclusion
So this is what we can say about the EU online gaming regulations by generalizing all the countries. We cannot go into detail about the gaming rules of all EU countries together because there are no rules regarding online gaming in the EU.
The EU authority does not want to use its power to control the gaming and gaming rules of all its member countries. They left this responsibility on the shoulder of the country’s governments. As a result, we see different rules in different EU countries. Online gaming companies have to apply for a license from different authorities to run their business in the EU.
They also have to change their system to cope up with different country laws. To be fair, it is not much of an easy thing to operate an online gaming business in the EU. We can hope that one day the EU will put efforts into developing online gaming rules for its countries.
About The Author
Leave a Reply