Swedish opposition MP wants a more open online gambling market

Already under pressure over its online gambling policies following the referral of its laws to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission (see previous reports) the Swedish government came in for attack from within last week.

Opposition MP Gustav Hoffstedt of the Moderate Party, proposed a motion in parliament that the government should switch from its indefensible monopolistic policies regarding internet gambling to a more open licensing and regulatory system allowing other operators into the market.

Hoffstedt says that it is clear that many Swedes continue to play on offshore sites outside the reach of Swedish enforcement, and that the monopoly exercised through state-owned Svenska Spel is not performing as originally intended.

The latest European Commission developments in the long-running saga of Swedish online gambling underlined the need for changes which could see a wider range of competitive offerings, he noted, adding that a number of the leading and respectable companies in the online gambling sector were Swedish in origin, but had been compelled by the country’s laws to base themselves elsewhere.

But he stressed that entry requirements must be stringent and strictly enforced
Swedish