Dutch Government Protects Online Gambling Monopoly
The government of the Netherlands wants to prevent foreign online casinos from targeting Dutch gamblers. Following several other European countries, Holland is seeking to keep its gambling monopoly and to ban external competitors from entering the market.
For a company as permissive as Holland, with its liberal drug laws and acceptance of gay marriage, you wouldn’t think that gambling would be an issue.
However, it seems that, rather than taking a moral stand, it’s all about business. Holland Casino currently runs all online gambling in the country, and the government is keen to preserve its monopoly, by banning financial transactions from overseas casino providers.
This is however, contrary to EU law on free trade. The EU Commission has already issued warnings to other countries implementing similar practices, and since Holland is blatantly flouting European trade laws by excluding European competitors, they are likely to receive a strong reaction.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice claims that at least 30 foreign online casinos are targeting players from Holland. There are also plans to compile and distribute a gambling blacklist of online casinos from other countries in a quest to oust them from the market.
Holland Casino currently has around 400,000 players (around 2.5% of the population) and has recently increased its advertising budget in order to compete with overseas casinos.
Legal proceedings have already been instigated against Unibet, for targeting Dutch punters for its sports betting site. Holland Casino wants to impose a fine of 100,000 Euros per day, up to a possible 3 million Euros, but Unibet have appealed.
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