The 27 were divided before the creation of a common standard on gambling 01/12/2008 – 19:08 – EFE News.

Brussels, Dec 1 (EFE) .- The European Union countries were divided today over the possibility of creating a common standard to regulate gambling, and the United Kingdom, Austria and Malta who were facing more opposition Others, like Spain, which suggested further work in this regard.

Supporters of harmonizing national laws stressed, yes, the need to continue to analyze the peculiarities of the sector during the semester of Czech and Swedish presidency of the EU, diplomatic sources confirmed to Efe.

In particular, they stressed that this is a sensitive sector that includes factors such as the protection of minors and is also a very important source of revenue.

The national law differs greatly from one member to another, so that while in countries like France, Germany or Italy gambling are prohibited and subject to specific authorization in others the law is more open.

This is the main obstacle to overcome, as evidenced by the Council on Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research) held today in Brussels.

In addition, some delegations argued that there are a dozen cases related to gambling that are being considered by the Court of Justice of the EU and begin negotiations for a European legislation on the matter could interfere with the process, as explained to Efe Community sources.

According to the same sources, the European Commission, which had tried to include this aspect in the policy known as the “Bolkestein” for the liberalization of services in the EU showed no intention of submitting a proposal in a short time.

As regards to gambling on the Internet, are six member states that completely prohibit Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Netherlands and Poland, others do not reach the ban, but does show more restrictive than with other modes.

In terms of market structure, most countries apply different rules to different segments of the industry (lotteries, sports betting and horse, casinos, bingo).

The lotteries are often dependent on monopolies or agencies that have exclusive rights, while the stakes for the most frequent license.

So far the problems associated with gambling and betting have been solved at the national level, however, the Presidencies of the EU is to move towards common principles, particularly in terms of supervision, simpler operation of the domestic market.

As long as the lack of alignment in the sector, each country will continue to have freedom (while respecting Community law) to regulate the activity of gambling and betting.