European Committee for Standardization (CEN)

Summary of the initiative

Name
European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
Objective(s)
The CEN Workshop Agreement “Responsible Remote Gambling Measures” is a set of 134 practical measures aimed at safeguarding a high level of consumer protection and ensuring that remote gambling operators behave responsibly in the European Union.

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Sector

    Contact Point - Commission
    GROW E2

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    PRIVATE ACT
    Year
    2011
    Title of Act
    Responsible Remote Gambling Measures - CEN Workshop Agreement 16259:2011
    Review, Revision or Sunset Clause Year
    2014

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Austria

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    Existence of different levels of consumer protection in the online gambling environment.
    Target Group(s)
    All online gambling stakeholders (including players, industry representatives, administrations, experts on problem gambling, addiction and criminology academics, etc.)
    Type of Instrument(s)
    CEN Workshop Agreement, self-regulatory agreement
    Type of Financing
    Participation fees
    Level of Financing
    32,700 EUR
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commission
    National public authority
    International public authority
    Private regulator (code owner)
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)yesyes
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    By definition the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) is a voluntary standard applicable internationally and does not have the force of regulation. The CWA offers a mechanism whereby stakeholders can submit their standardisation and specification requirements and develop a result by consensus, validated in an open process. In a CWA all the decision-making powers rest with the interested parties themselves, the members of the Workshop. These include all stakeholders and can come from any part of the globe. They are responsible for the funding and direction of the workshop and for approval of the deliverables. Then it is up to the stakeholders to develop monitoring mechanisms. For instance EGBA decided to introduce the CWA on Responsible Remote Gambling Measures to its own standards (see http://www.egba.eu/en/consumers/standards). As a result all EGBA members (grouping the leading online gaming and betting operators established, licensed and regulated within the EU) are committed to these measures.
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulatoryes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
    Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
    As already explained above, EGBA impose the CWA on Responsible Remote Gambling Measures to its members, so that the procedure of enforcement of the EGBA standards also applies for the CWA measures.
    EGBA can provide on request a compliance certificate of eCOGRA (independent standards authority for the online gambling industry).