Polish progress on monopolising online gambling

The international online gambling industry will watch with interest the reaction of the European Commission to Poland’s draft gambling law amendments, which were submitted to the Commission this week for comment following several months of consideration and drafting .

The controversial proposals put forward by the Polish government amend the 2009 gambling legislation to fully embrace online gambling, but under circumstances that effectively create an exclusive monopoly.

This is rationalised as necessary to protect the Polish punter from the dangers of compulsive gambling – an argument common among nations in Europe wishing to keep online gambling revenues to themselves, and one that requires consistency, commercial proportionality and balance in the eyes of the European Court of Justice, which has dealt with a number of cases.

Perhaps in preparation for imposing its own regulatory regime, Poland has of late been taking a more aggressive approach on unlicensed operators. The country already permits online sports betting.

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