Sweden has been taken to court by the European Commission over what the EC says are violations of the EU’s principle of free movement of services.
Sweden, like most of the Nordic region, has strict state controls on gambling. Current Swedish gambling legislation limits licenses to state-owned or local operators, which goes against the EU’s founding principle of allowing capital, people, and services to circulate freely throughout the 28 Member States.
The reasoning given by the major Swedish online state-owned operator, Svenska Spel, is that this arrangement limits the harmful effects of gambling. The European Court of Justice, however, will hear that the way they implement their policies doesn’t gel with their stated aim of protecting the public.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), an industry organization, has said that the effectiveness of the monopoly has decreased in recent years and is not as good as it used to be in terms of preventing problem gambling or criminal activity in the market, or in terms of promoting responsible gambling.
The hoped-for liberalization of the Swedish market should therefore result in a far wider range of games and casinos than is currently available. Although there are some casinos operating in Sweden, the possibility of expanding the number of online casinos, sports betting operators, and poker rooms can only be a good thing for both players and companies alike.
But as they say in Sweden, “don’t sell the pelt before the bear is shot.” Or in other words, don’t start celebrating just yet. The case hasn’t been heard, and until that happens, there’ll be no change on the Swedish gambling scene.
Let’s just hope that it’ll work out for the best for all players. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments in this very exciting news story. Hopefully there’ll be some positive developments on the horizon for Swedish players.
