European Union Economic Crisis Threatens Online Gambling Accords

The European Commission has already had difficulty keeping members in line with its open commerce policies concerning Internet casinos.

The worldwide recession has caused rifts to appear in the tight-knit cloth of the European Union, leading to the prospects of countries abandoning unified economic trade policies. The online gambling industry is watching closely, as international agreements are in danger from protectionist policies.

Now more protectionism is feared by the poorer countries of eastern Europe, worried that western EU members with stronger economies will act in their own interest, disregarding the needs of the rest. The New York Times reported that a call by Hungary to conduct a massive bailout was ignored by many and refuted by Germany.

The European Commission has already had difficulty keeping members in line with its open commerce policies concerning Internet casinos. Norway has legislated a payment transaction ban similar to the UIGEA over protests from EU members and the Remote Gaming Association.

Finland is among other western European countries pursuing a unilateral approach to online gambling, installing a state monopoly despite European Commission findings that the country is breaking tenets of the EU treaty.

Countries such as the Czech Republic want online casinos to locate there, sparking economic development, while richer countries attempt to block Internet gambling at the borders. Onlookers await anxiously to see if the EU can survive mounting economic pressures.

Ronald Asmus, a former US State Department official, told the Times, "All of that (coordinated cooperation) is in doubt if the cornerstone of the E.U. ... its internal market, economic union and solidarity ... is in question."

And German newspaper editor Stefan Kornelius said, "The European Union will now have to prove whether it is just a fair-weather union or has a real joint political destiny."