The ECJ has had it’s hands full with online casino legislation recently.
Online casinos, and the regulation thereof, is a difficult subject to tackle. With so many millions of euros at stake, several European countries has gone a bit too far in clamping down on operators. The ECJ has decided that Sweden is not one of these countries though. They ruled that Sweden’s fining of a newspaper for it’s promotion of online sports betting sites was completely within reason. The sites being advertised were unlicensed, and therefore the ads were a violation of Swedish law. These laws were also reviewed by the court and determined to be reasonable. The fine itself was also determined to not be excessive. The court did make a statement to the effect that a bigger fine or harsher regulatory restrictions would be over the line, but for now Sweden acted correctly. European gambling laws are a confusing nightmare for operators, state governments, and EU officials alike, to say nothing of those who are actually playing at Gaming Club Casino and other online casinos. With national laws changing all the time, the courts are struggling to keep up. Online casino operators, as well as the ECJ are hoping for a EU wide set of standards to ease some of the confusion connected with this minefield of legislation. The governments of the individual countries are some what predictably making this difficult, with a great deal of variation in laws from one country to the next.
