Belgium’s new online gambling rules introduce stricter licensing and sanctions, but vague provisions leave operators facing major regulatory uncertainty.

2007 and the first semester of 2008 have been marked by a “change of attitude” towards online gambling on the part of both the executive and the judiciary. This can be largely explained by the sending of a reasoned opinion by the European Commission to France last June, which put pressure on the one hand on the government to modify its gaming legislation to make it consistent with European law, and on the other hand on courts.

In the legal framework of a bone of contention between the FDJ and the Syndicat des Casinos Modernes de France, the Court dealing with trade disputes pronounced, on the 12th of June 2006, a summary judgment that, on the rebound, gave new obligations to the FDJ regarding its site accessibility to surfers under 18. The bone of contention comes from the publication, on the 11th of April 2006, of a press release on the FDJ, wherein the company claims that “its site is only accessible to French residents aged more than 18”, that “the weekly stake is limited (500 €)” and that “the gambler’s huge gains are directly paid into their bank account and not into a gambling account”.

Wie uns von Thilbeaut Verbiest, Rechtsanwalt unserer Korrespondenz-Kanzlei ULYS in Frankreich und Belgien, in der nachfolgenden Publikation „Française des Jeux“ mitgeteilt wurde, konnte für die private Sportwetten- und Glücksspielindustrie in Frankreich ein Etappensieg gegen das dortige Monopol der „Francaise des Jeux“ (FDJeux) errungen werden. Die FDJeux unterlag nämlich in einem wettbewerbsrechtlichen Verfahren dem „Syndicat des Casinos Modernes de France“, das von ULYS vertreten wurde.

As a member of ULYS, Mr. Keuleers (LL.M) writes publications about the european gaming law for the ISA-CASINOS PA. ULYS is an international Law Firm with permanent offices in Brussels and Paris and is integrated in a virtual network of leading gaming, media & entertainment experts.