The new gambling legislation in Belgium is already being challenged. Two powerful online gambling lobbies, the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) have filed a complaint with the European Commission, stating that the law violates European Union rules.

As has been the case every other time someone has petitioned the EU about a European nation’s gambling laws, it comes down to foreign competition. According to the complaint, the new Belgian law places barriers for foreign competition in their online gambling market. Though the law doesn’t ban overseas operators, it requires applications for internet gambling licenses to first participate in the land-based market. For domestic operators, that isn’t a problem. For overseas online casinos, though, that is only possible if they open a brick and mortar casino in Belgium, which none want to do. Few European online casinos are involved in any land-based businesses. The complaint also states that online casinos would need to have servers, equipment and personnel located in Belgium permanently.

Instead of protecting consumers, it seems that the Belgian government is using their gambling laws to protect their land-based casinos from foreign competition. Such a thing is not permitted by EU free-trade rules.

In the complaint, the RGA stated that the Belgian law “completely ignores the obligations and safeguards to which foreign operators are already subject in their member state of establishment.” CEO Clive Hawkswood stated that the policy of protectionism will actually hurt Belgian consumers because it will “only serve to reduce the value and choice available to them.”

Belgian lawmakers insist that the legislation is legitimate and that it is intended to protect their people and ensure that all online casinos available to their citizens are safe. However, according to the EGBA, the response was nothing other than Belgian waffling.

There has been no comment yet from the European Union.

In a surprise move, the European Union’s Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the Netherlands could block Ladbrokes and Betfair, the popular bookmaker and betting exchange, from offering bets to Dutch gamblers if the reason for the ban was to protect against “fraud and crime.”

All members of the European Union have a free trade agreement that prohibits banning foreign goods from another EU nation in favor of domestic competition. For that reason, in 2008 the Dutch Supreme Court asked the ECJ to rule on whether their position of banning those sites was compatible with EU law.

Representatives from Ladbrokes and Betfair were predictable disappointed. They say that while the Netherlands claim to be concerned with gambling addiction and corruption, their real reason for the ban is to preserve the state-run monopoly on the gambling market in the form of De Lotto.

A spokesman from Ladbrokes said that the stance of the Netherlands was “hard to reconcile with its expansive gambling policy, which is characterized by the introduction and active advertising, marketing and promotion of new gaming products.”

It seems that the Netherlands thinks that gambling is dangerous unless it’s under the control of their government. That’s a common theme among the more authoritative governments and as a monarchy, the Netherlands certainly belongs to that group. I guess Queen Beatrix doesn’t trust the people to make their own decisions about what kinds of bets to make and what people to do business with. Therefore, she will make the decision for you. How kind and protective of her.

In response to the ECJ ruling, Betfair’s European public affairs chief, Tim Phillips, said that the judgment “once again demonstrates the need for the European Commission to take a lead on this issue, so that we can…settle the online gambling debate once and for all.” He and others calls for the EC to pass online gambling legislation at the EU level that would strictly and clearly state the rules each member nation must follow regarding online gambling.

Who would have guessed that getting a bunch of independent countries to agree on having the exact same laws would be difficult? Oh, I guess anyone with intelligence would. For whatever reason, that either didn’t occur to those who pushed for the establishment of a European Union back in 1993 or they just didn’t care.

In any case, if you’ve been following online gambling news you probably have noticed that there have been a lot of disputes between the European Union (EU) and its member countries about gambling. One of the things the EU is supposed to provide for its member countries is free trade. However, several countries either have a ban on foreign online casinos or give incentives for their citizens to use the casinos in their own country instead. The EU doesn’t like that.

You don’t want to make the EU mad, because when they get mad, they react about as harshly as the United Nations: They tell you that you’re being bad and ask you to stop. If you continue being bad, they’ll say that they’re getting really mad and really want you to stop. If you keep doing it, you can expect an angry letter.

The EU now has a new Internal Markets Commissioner, Michel Barnier, who resolves to end this problem once and for all. How? By drafting a paper that clearly outlines the EU’s position on online gambling, of course. He will then send the paper to each member country to remind them that these are the rules that they must follow. Not only that, but it will call out the countries that are violating the EU laws by pointing out what they’re doing wrong. Ooh, that’s gotta hurt.

So who’s ignoring the EU? A few countries right now. France, Germany and Greece have laws that give an advantage to state-run monopolies over foreign online casinos. Spain is a little more covert with their subversion. Though there is no law that gives an advantage to Spanish casinos, their tax code does. The Spanish government offers a tax break on winnings from gambling at Spanish-run casinos. If you win money from a foreign casino, however, you have to shoulder the full tax burden. For that reason, there is significant incentive for Spanish citizens to gamble using the state-run monopolies. Finland is a little more daring. They placed an outright ban on foreign online casinos, making it only legal to gamble using one of the two Finnish gambling companies.

You may be wondering where the new Internal Markets Commissioner is from. Well, Mr. Barnier happens to be from France, which is one of the countries defying the EU rules on online gambling. Maybe this will get interesting after all. France may get a very special letter from Barnier, which would basically say “I’m really disappointed in you. Oh, yeah, and you’re making me look bad.”

The European Union doesn’t always side with freedom, or capitalism for that matter, so a recent decision by the EU shouldn’t come as a surprise. The EU’s highest court ruled that Portugal’s state-run monopoly of online gambling is legal. Their reason was that the country controls the entire market as a way to combat illegal gambling. Right, if you let just anyone run the business, who knows what they will do?

The European Union court, located in Luxembourg, heard appeals from online casinos Liga and Bwin, who were fined for operating within the Portuguese market controlled by the state-run monopoly. The EU has rules that ensure companies can provide products and services across EU borders. According to the court, though, such freedom of commerce can be restricted if the public interest is at stake. According to the court, “games of chance involve a high risk of criminal activity or fraud” and online gambling has a “different and more substantial risk of fraud compared with traditional markets for such games.”

The ruling opens the door for other countries within the EU to monopolize online gambling and crowd other online casinos out of the market. Currently, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece are involved in court disputes regarding their online gambling monopolies. In addition, the same ruling could be used for other products that can be seen as affecting public interest. Maybe soon Germany will have a monopoly on beer. After all, if you let just anyone sell beer, just think of the potential for criminal activity. The possibilities are wide open. It’s a bad time to own a business in the EU. Actually, come to think of it, it’s a bad time to be in the EU at all, for a variety of reasons.

It seems that the United States and Russia aren’t the only ones who have a problem with online gambling. Usually the trendsetters, introducing the world to such wonders as Armani suits and fascism, Italy seemed to follow America’s example in regards to online gambling. PokerNewsDaily reported that back in 2006, the same year the United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), Italy tried to ban all forms of overseas online gambling. The European Union, however, threatened legal action against them, citing that a ban against foreign online casinos violates their free trade agreements, and Italy, unlike the United States, cowered to the EU and decided to put off their new laws until after negotiating with the EU.

An agreement was reached in February of 2008 and enacted on July 27, 2009. Under the new Italian laws, there are a lot of new restrictions on poker. Cash games are no longer allowed. Poker can only be played in tournament format. Online gambling websites located in Italy can only accept Italian players and there is a limit to the amount of time each player can play. Benito Mussolini would be proud of the Italian Parliament.

With the restrictions placed on gambling within Italy, there will likely be a lot more Italian gamblers using foreign casinos, legal or not. Though overseas online poker sites are banned from accepting Italian customers, it seems likely that some unscrupulous casinos will break the rule. Similarly, it can’t be that difficult for an online poker player in Italy to make it appear to the casinos and banks that they live outside the country. Therefore, it’s possible that the effort to control all of the profits of online gambling by banning foreign competition will result in Italy losing money.