We must hurry because the European Commission is about to take us to court. If we want to avoid fines and penalties, we need to make sure that gambling on the internet will be legalized quickly. Online gambling must be legalized quickly, describing how Harrie Temmink warns us about the snail’s pace associated with legalization. Temmink raised the subject in a round table discussion with the House of Representatives. The conversation led to discussions, but not primarily to fundamental steps and concrete legalization.
Slow progress legalization gambling
The government intends to legalize internet gambling. This is a plan that has been around for a long time. However, the last words certainly do not seem to have been spoken. Because this plan is already in place, Brussels has frozen the procedure that was initiated to impose a fine. Fines will therefore not be an issue for the time being. However, the road to the legalization of internet gambling has barely begun, and before we are actually legalized, the most fundamental steps have yet to be taken. The only concrete development is the bill that has been presented to the House of Representatives.
Intertwined Interests
We seem to be dealing with a conflict of interests. Various parties argue for and against legalization. Perhaps the snail’s pace with which legalization is achieved has something to do with this. A letter from Alexander Rinnooy Kan is quoted in the article. He is the chairman of the so-called Charity Platform that receives money from, among other things, Dutch lotteries. Kan will also join a discussion in the House of Representatives about the legalization of online gambling. He is predicted to voice his concerns about this with or without success. That’s something we’ll just have to wait and see.
Different interests
The Charity Platform is in favor of blocking illegal gambling sites. But according to other organizations, this goes against other internet interests of the platform, such as the right to free internet access in dictatorships. Different parties, therefore, have different interests, and this is all the more clear from the time-consuming procedure that the legalization of internet gambling is becoming. One way or another, the procedure keeps getting delayed for different reasons and that has to come to an end. The greatest importance is for the player himself, who through legalization gets a broader and clearer range of online games.