EU law. ISP-blocking measures are active
in the jurisdiction.
DENMARK
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, fantasy sports, horse race betting,
poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Sports betting, poker and
casino licences are available to private
operators. Lottery is controlled by the
state monopoly.
Status: The Danish online gambling regime
went live on 1 January 2012. ISP-blocking
measures are active in the jurisdiction and
the Danish Gaming Authority has been
granted an injunction to block operators
and suppliers that have been targeting
Danish customers without the requisite
licence. Danish political parties have
reached an agreement to introduce limits
on bonuses. The Ministry of Taxation is
understood to be aiming for a 1 January
2019 implementation, although the exact
proposed changes are currently unknown.
ESTONIA
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Licences for all gambling
products are available to private operators
save for lotteries, which are reserved
exclusively for the monopoly operator.
Status: Operators seeking to accept
business from players in Estonia must
be issued an activity licence for the type
of gambling they wish to offer, then an
operating permit to provide the services
remotely. A blacklist of about 1,100
operators is maintained and updated by
local authorities and ISP and payment
blocking is in force. Though some operators
argue that the regime is still not compatible
with EU law, there has been no open
challenge by the EC to date.
FINLAND
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: All gambling products are
under the exclusive control of monopoly
provider Veikkaus Oy.
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Status: Despite the existence of a national
monopoly, EC enforcement action has been
dropped subsequent to various changes to
Finnish laws. Active enforcement measures
are in place (restrictive marketing for
offshore operators and ISP blocking).
FRANCE
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, bingo
and lottery.
Operator type: Private operators can obtain
online licences for sports betting, horse
race betting and poker. The monopoly has
exclusive rights to bingo and lottery.
Status: A regulated market since the
introduction of a licensing regime in
2010, following which the EC withdrew
its infringement proceedings. Parliament
has given its formal approval to plans
to privatise the state-owned operator
of France’s national lottery games,
Française des Jeux (FDJ), with broader
regulatory changes to the online sector
expected to follow.
GERMANY
Regulated gambling products: Schleswig-
Holstein, a small northern German state,
regulates sports betting, horse race betting,
poker, casino and bingo. The other 15 states
of Germany currently permit only sports
betting and horse race betting.
Operator type: Private operators can
no longer obtain licences in Schleswig-
Holstein and those in existence will expire
on 30 June 2019. In the other 15 states,
horse race betting licences are available at a
regional level but the position surrounding
the 20 available sports-betting licences is
still uncertain.
Status: The main legal framework for
gambling regulation in Germany has
been the subject of much debate and has
been heavily criticised by the European
Commission and interested parties/
states within Germany for a number
of years. Its legal standing is highly
questionable, particularly in light of a
decision of the CJEU (in Sebat Ince,
2016), which found the sports betting
tender process to be incompatible with
EU law and called into question the
restrictive remote gambling regime in
general. The decision led to calls for
comprehensive legal reform of Germany’s
gambling legislation. In March 2017 all
16 German states signed amendments to
the country’s gambling law; however, on
22 September 2017, Schleswig-Holstein’s
state parliament voted against ratifying
these, with North-Rhine Westphalia and
Hesse since announcing their intention to
follow suit. Without full state support, the
intended changes did not take effect, further
delaying reform. A Federal Administrative
Court ruling on 26 October 2017 upheld
the ban on online casinos and poker.
The ruling, which is now the subject of a
constitutional complaint, appears to have
led to action by local regulators seeking
to enforce the prohibition of online casinos
by issuing interdiction letters to operators.
Payment-blocking initiatives are also
being pursued.
GREAT BRITAIN
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: All licences are available
to private operators save for lottery, which
is reserved exclusively for the monopoly
provider, Camelot.
Status: Any operator that transacts with,
or advertises to, British residents requires a
licence from the Gambling Commission.
Licensed operators are required to source
gambling software from commission-
licensed businesses. The UK government
has announced its intention to increase
Remote Gaming Duty to cover a shortfall
in lost tax revenue resulting from a
reduction in maximum stakes on fixed
odds betting terminals from £100 to £2.
Both changes are set to take effect from
April 2019.
GREECE
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting and lottery.
Operator type: All products are exclusively
reserved for the monopoly providers,
although 24 transitional licences for
private operators remain active, with all
products permitted.