CARE welcomes yesterday’s announcement from Commissioner Barnier, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, launching a Europe-wide action plan on online gambling.

The Commissioner recognised the harms that gambling addiction causes citizens and their families; according to the latest statistics there are 400,000 problem gamblers in the UK alone. The Commissioner went on to highlight the need for the protection of children and other vulnerable groups as “75% of EU citizens under the age of 17 use the internet”. With this in mind the Commission is encouraging the development of better age-verification tools and online content filters. It is also pushing for more responsible advertising and increased parental awareness of the dangers associated with gambling.

David Fieldsend, CARE for Europe, said ““I very much welcome what Commissioner Barnier had to say yesterday when I was present at his press conference in Strasbourg; in particular his willingness to continue to give a high profile to the protection of vulnerable consumers and not allow online gambling to be treated just like another market service. His clear statement that Member States may restrict or limit the supply of all or certain types of online gambling is a helpful clarification of the legal situation. Others had previously given the impression that only an all or nothing approach was acceptable.”

The UK Government announced in 20111 that it will require gambling firms who want to offer their services in the UK, to have to register for a license with the UK Gambling Commission and thereby comply with their licensing code of conduct. This code offers some safeguards to the vulnerable, including proper age and identity verification. However to date we are yet to see action on this front. CARE expects the UK government to act now that the EU Commissioner has outlined European-level proposals.

Lauri Moyle, CARE’S consultant on online family safety and remote gambling added, “It’s great to see progress forward on such a vital issue. Things do move slowly both at EU and Westminster level when it comes to catching up with technological developments, but the launch of the action plan shows that there is a willingness to help protect the most vulnerable. We hope more will be done to encourage a national level, centralised self-exclusion mechanism to help problem gamblers deal with compulsive play.”

Notes:

1 Announced July 14th 2011 http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/media_releases/8299.aspx