Organised gambling has a long history, dating back as far as ancient China or the Roman Empire. States’ attempt at limiting or regulating the various possibilities of individuals to bet are just as old. In their writings, Cicero and Horatius refer to the Lex Talaria, prohibiting gambling in the Republic. French monarchs created monopolies on gambling by establishing the predecessor of today’s Française des Jeux. In the UK, the first tax on gambling was introduced in 1711.
The spread of gambling, especially online gambling, has increased tremendously over the past few years. In 2008, the Gross Gaming Revenue of the gambling market in the EU was estimated at 75.9 billion Euros. Out of this, online gambling had a market share of 6.16 billion Euros. More recent numbers put the online gambling market alone at 50.7 billion Euros in 2012.
The public’s perception of gambling takes many forms: a simple entertainment for some, it raises moral concerns for others. From an economic perspective, it is a lucrative activity for organisers, players and the state. From a governance perspective, it creates challenging legal issues, regarding its regulation in an increasingly globalised world. The current EU market is now almost completely liberalized; a unified or harmonized legislation in this field remains a distant project.
This contribution will look at the development of a gambling regulatory regime at EU level, by analysing various barriers that have been invoked by members states to limit both the reach of EU regulations and reduce the likelihood of a more harmonised system.
