Towards a European framework for online gambling, by Daniela Rondinelli

Online gambling is a much discussed and controversial sector because it is potentially harmful to consumers and, more generally, to a European Social Model which will have to balance access to legal gambling websites in a context of legality, transparency and public health protection against the risks associated with fraud, crime and money laundering.

Since it is impossible to conceive of a single market for online gambling in the current situation due to considerations of a legal nature and of political will at the national level, the Commission intends to launch a raft of initiatives to support the Member States' efforts to work together to combat and eradicate illegal sites.

While supporting the Commission's objectives, the EESC has called for directives in the following areas:

• public health and consumer safety, especially for minors and vulnerable groups;
• responsible advertising;
• measures to combat sport-related betting fraud;
• legality and transparency guarantees through sanctions that provide for the blocking, closing, seizure and taking-down of illegal sites.

The EESC also calls for the preservation of land based gambling jobs, which are being lost to the online sector, and for an assessment on whether and to what extent the online gambling sector is creating new jobs.