European Gaming Lawyer magazine Spring 2014 | Page 10

Revised Dutch remote gaming bill notified
to Brussels ahead of parliamentary process
By Frank Tolboom and Dr Alan Littler, Kalff Katz & Franssen attorneys at law,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

S

Frank Tolboom

Dr Alan Littler

ooner than expected the Dutch
government notified, on 5
March 2014, a revised version
of the remote gaming bill
(“notified bill”) to the European
Commission (“EC”). The standstill period ends on
6 June 2014, although given the legislative process
ahead the bill will not be adopted before this date
anyway. It is expected that the bill will enter into the
political arena in The Hague just before the summer
and plenary debates will follow later this year or even
in the beginning of next year.
At the time of writing the EC has not made an
English translation available of the 170+ page bill
and the accompanying explanatory memorandum.
Therefore, this article will set out some of the key
features and changes as incorporated by the Ministry
of Security and Justice (“Ministry”) following the
consultation period which resulted in almost 90
submissions from various stakeholders. On a final
note, we will have a look into our crystal ball and
discuss next steps, including an estimated legislative
timetable until licensing commences.
Background
Although the Netherlands tends to be quite liberal in
certain areas such as its soft drugs policy and strives
to be the frontrunner in Europe in other areas such
as innovation, technology and digitalisation, it is one
of the last boys in class when it comes to regulating
remote gaming.
Currently, legislation, the Wet op de kansspelen
(Betting and Gaming Act, “Act”), which dates back
to 1964, maintains a ‘prohibited unless licensed’
approach to all forms of gaming, subject to some
minor exceptions, and at present there is still no legal
basis for remote gaming licences to be awarded by the
Gaming Authority (“Kansspelautoriteit”). Therefore
there is no true remote gaming offering available in
the Netherlands which is lawful under Dutch law.
The current government is finally driving the
introduction of a remote gaming licensing regime

10 | European Gaming Lawyer | Spring Issue | 2014

and in May 2013 the Ministry, along with colleagues
in Finance, published a draft bill for consultation
(“consultation text”). It is important to note that the
bill does not seek to introduce a new law to repeal and
replace the existing Act but rather to amend it so that
remote gaming can be regulated and licensed in the
Netherlands, as of 2015. The bill will also introduce
changes to the Betting and Gaming Tax Act. The bill
will introduce a regulatory framework with many
details being fleshed out in forthcoming secondary
legislation.
In the months after the consultation process, the
Ministry digested some 90 consultation submissions
from various stakeholders and revised the draft bill
where it deemed necessary. We will discuss these
changes below.
The revised version of the bill was approved by the
Council of Ministers (“Ministersraad”) on 14 February
2014 and subsequently has been sent to the advisory
body of the government, the Council of State (“Raad
van State”), to be reviewed. Once the Council of State
has delivered its advice, the bill may be amended
again and subsequently, with the accompanying
advice, will then go to the House of Representatives
(“Tweede Kamer”). The Ministry already took a
procedural hurdle through notifying the bill to the EC
on 5 March 2014; at this stage the notified bill entered
into the public domain.
In the transitional period until regulation and
licensing the Gaming Authority has publically stated
that it is prioritising its enforcement efforts. The
Gaming Authority is focussing on operators who are
crossing the so-called three “red lines” and seeks to
take enforcement measures against entities offering
remote gaming in the Netherlands where they: i) offer
remote gaming via a website in the Dutch language;
and/or ii) offer remote gaming via a website using a .nl
extension, and/or; iii) advertise their services via radio,
television or print media advertising directed towards
the Netherlands. Further to pressure from incumbent
operators and increased political scrutiny on whether
this policy should not just be perceived as a policy of