European Commission Plans Investigate Online Casinos

The European Commission has announced plans to conduct a five to seven month investigation into the legitimacy of complaints from online casino companies operating out of the European Union’s 27 member nations. The United States currently has highly discriminatory legislation in place which blocks offshore internet gambling companies from accessing the U.S. online casinos gambling industry while allowing U.S. companies to participate in a handful of specific internet gambling activities such as horserace betting, fantasy sports leagues, and more. The issue with the U.S.’s current internet gambling industry has already been addressed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to an extent, but the European Union is seeking further resolve – the WTO’s ruling was unsatisfactory in forcing the U.S. to comply with international trade policies. The WTO’s last ruling concerning the U.S. online casinos gambling industry directly addressed complaints from the small island nation of Antigua and were resolved by the WTO granting Antigua the right to ignore U.S. copyrights up to a given amount. And though the European Union, Canada, Japan, and other nations filed compensation claims with the WTO, the EU online casinos are requesting a second look at what is deemed unfair and illegal trade discrimination against offshore gambling companies. The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has also called for the European Commission to investigate this international issue concerning the global online casinos industry. And RGA spokesperson commented on the situation, "By any analysis, the U.S. policy is fundamentally unfair, and we are delighted that the commission shares our concern. The U.S. simply needs to end its discriminatory prosecution of EU companies, and their shareholders, who have after all been out of the US market for almost two years now." EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has taken into consideration the extensive outcry for justice from the European online casinos gambling industry and commented, "The U.S. has the right to address legitimate public policy concerns relating to Internet gambling, but discrimination against EU companies cannot be part of the policy mix." The Commission will begin the investigation into U.S. internet gambling and trade policies immediately.

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