Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-11-14-Speech-1-229-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20111114.20.1-229-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I should like to start by expressing my deep gratitude to all the shadow rapporteurs, who made this report possible through their excellent cooperation. The committee agreed to this report with an overwhelming vote of 30 in favour, one against and one abstention.
Online gambling is an international phenomenon that is growing on a daily basis. Consumers find it easy to gamble online with providers who are either completely unregulated or who are registered in other countries where different rules apply.
As a result, some individual Member States are no longer able to guarantee sufficient protection for their consumers. Children and young people or gambling addicts are particularly affected by this. In addition, frequently illegal foreign competition causes Member States to lose many millions of euro in tax revenue every year.
This comes at a cost to the promotion of charitable projects, combating addiction and support for amateur sport. Finally, legal uncertainties make it difficult to offer cross-border gambling services within the internal market. Given that there are no European licensing standards, it is necessary to decide on a case-by-case basis whether practices in the Member States comply with European law.
The existing level of legal uncertainty is made clear by the large number of contractual violation cases in recent years. That is why there is an urgent need to close the existing gap between legislation and reality.
The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection has come to a clear conclusion. The Member States need to cooperate much more closely on this issue. This will not be enough to resolve the problems outlined, however. In addition, the European Union will also have to play a significant role in future. This has been demanded by our committee with an overwhelming majority. In addition to other measures, an EU directive is also to be considered that will set shared minimum standards for consumer and youth protection, combating crime in the area of online gambling.
Although the committee emphasises the principle of subsidiarity in its report on online gambling, the Member States need to regulate online betting for themselves insofar as possible within their own territory. However, this means that certain rules will need to be met in accordance with the judicial rulings of the European Court of Justice: restrictions in the legal range of gambling services, through state monopoly for example, are only permitted if they are coherent and proportionate. We cannot have a situation where a state explains away its monopoly by arguing that it wishes to protect consumers from the negative effects of gambling, while at the same time intensively advertising its range of state-backed gambling options. The best example of this can be found in Germany, where we have a state monopoly on gambling and lotteries, but with frequent advertising informing consumers of the current size of the jackpot, naturally encouraging players to invest their money in the lottery.
To avoid such situations in the future, the European Union should set down quality standards for state licensing models. If a Member State decides in favour of a state licensing model, this model must comply with the principles of transparency and fair competition. In other words, all providers of gambling services that comply with the relevant conditions should be able to apply for a licence. At the same time, trust between the national regulatory authorities needs to be strengthened so as to achieve greater cooperation. In addition, the Commission is called upon to examine ways to use legislation to prevent the flow of payments between illegal providers and their customers. This could be achieved, for example, if each Member State were to draw up a white list of licensed gambling operators in its territory. Banks and credit institutions would only then be permitted to authorise transactions with these approved operators. I believe that this is a sensible and realistic alternative to the blocking of Internet sites, something that we, as liberals, would not favour. This measure would also be an important step in securing tax income from legal gambling, combating organised crime, and protecting the consumer from unregulated gambling.
Everyone, regulated providers, the public purse and consumers alike, would benefit from the measures called for in the report. Nonetheless, the European Commission needs the full backing of the European Parliament in order to present the necessary initiatives. It is for this reason I am hopeful that there will be a broad majority in favour at tomorrow’s vote, giving the Commission a clear mandate for action. Mr Barnier, it is over to you."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples