Greece has decided to comply with European Union rules and liberalize their gambling market, but not everyone is happy with the results. On January 27, the Greek government unveiled a new regulatory structure for online gambling, which would include a 6% tax on turnover for the online gambling operators.

That tax rate has come under fire from some of the online gambling trade organizations. The Remote Gaming Association (RGA) issued a statement where they praised Greece for allowing overseas competition and opening the market so that citizens have options other than the existing monopolies. It did, however, have some harsh words regarding some of the regulations. One particular object of ire was the 6% tax rate, which the statement said is “just not viable.”

Citing an assessment by business consultant KPMG, Clive Hawkswood, the CEO of RGA, said that “only a gross profits taxation model will provide value for consumers, a reliable source of revenue for the government and a healthy competitive environment for the industry.”

In addition to the taxation policy, Hawkswood criticized regulations that require an online gambling operator to have servers located in Greece and have Greek domain names. Hawkswood said that the rules are too strict, discourage entry into the market and may be in violation of EU rules. Greece’s plans to issue between 15 and 50 gambling licenses is also too vague and needs to be clarified, according to RGA.

Hawkswood also compared the regulations to those of the new French gambling laws. France’s regulations have been called by many the worst in all of Europe. In France, a high tax rate, strict rules for licensure and a low cap on payout rate discourage entry into the market.

According to French regulators, the country needs to take action and bring more competition to the gambling industry by adding competitors and making it easier for them to establish themselves in the market. Currently the former monopolies are still controlling the market while other companies are struggling to compete.

France was one of ten countries rebuked by the European Union for having a monopoly that did not allow competition from overseas and private companies. In 2007, the EU notified France that it would be subject to a lawsuit if it didn’t change its gambling laws. Last year, they finally got around to liberalizing the market. The problem is that the market still needs a lot of improvement.

By most accounts, the regulations in France are a mess and are killing business. Stephane Courbit, chairman of BetClic, even said that France has the “worst online gambling laws in Europe.” And that’s after they liberalized the industry! Among the problems are high taxes, a low cap on payout rates, high fees for licensing and more. Because of that, the former monopolies, Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) and La Francaise des Jeux, still control the market.

Today the French Competition Authority released a non-binding opinion stating that the licensing fees need to be lowered, because the expensive licenses are blocking new companies from entering the market. They also stated that competitors have had trouble getting pertinent information for their business, such as schedules and results for horse racing.

The Competition Authority said that while competition is emerging, the government needs to take steps “to avoid any competitive distortion between the former monopolies and the new entrants.” The Authority did not mention taxation or the low payout limit. Though it is the same for everyone in the French market, since the rates are worse than other European countries, it is keeping some countries from deciding to enter the market. The Competition Authority did, however, suggest that the former monopolies, which have a strong presence in bars and tobacco shops, separate their physical locations from their online activities.

The European Union (EU) is kind of funny. They love to regulate and control the lives of the citizens of its member states and they love to control all business, but if someone actually stands up to them and says no, they don’t know what to do. That is because, despite all of their power and greed, the EU is still basically spineless.

Whenever a member country defies EU rules, they respond in much the same way as the United Nations: they tell you that they don’t like it. Do it again and you might get a friendly letter reminding you of the EU laws. Keep doing it and the letters may get less pleasant. Keep doing it after that and who knows what will happen? They might condemn you.

As part of the EU’s Free Trade Agreement creates a single set of rules and regulations for commerce between its member nations. Each member nation must accept and abide by the EU rules and the result is supposed to be a simplified and more inclusive market. The problem is that nations aren’t following the rules. Estonia is the latest to defy the EU’s regulations on online gambling.

Under EU rules, countries must accept all European-based online casinos and related sites, giving no preference based on origin. Estonia has recently begun licensing online gambling operators, but only those that are not included on their blacklist. Several things can land a casino on the blacklist, with one of them being having your operations based outside of Estonia. The country is giving preference to casinos based inside their borders and excluding foreign competition, a practice that is strictly prohibited under EU rules.

So far there has been no response from the European Union, but these things take time. After all, for some time now Germany, France and Greece have been ignoring the EU regulations and giving preference to their own casinos. Spain is giving tax breaks to customers who win money at Spanish casinos but none if you win at a foreign site.

Meanwhile, there has been little response from the EU. They now have a new Internal Markets Commissioner, who has drafted a paper and sent it to each member nation reminding them of the free trade rules. Now that a new country has joined in the defiance, you wonder what is next.

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.”