The Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market will “hopefully” open on January 1, 2021, René Jansen, Chairman of the country’s gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit, said during last week’s Gaming in Holland Conference.
The reorganization of the Dutch market was originally supposed to be a quick and smooth process, but turned into a years-long effort that was delayed due to the lack of legislative action on the so-called Remote Gambling Bill. The piece was crafted and first introduced in 2014 with the aim to replace the Netherlands obsolete gambling laws from more than five decades ago.
During his speech at this year’s Gaming in Holland Conference, Mr. Jansen provided a relative timeline on what’s next for the market reorganization process. The Netherlands’ top gaming official said that they hope the country’s new gambling law, which cleared its final legislative hurdle this past February, will take effect on July 1, 2020.
This means that companies interested to operate in the newly regulated market will be able to submit their license applications from that date onwards. Applicants will be required to pay a one-off €45,000 license application fee. As mentioned above, the market’s official liberalization is then expected to take place on January 1, 2021.
Mr. Jansen invited companies interested to operate in the Netherlands to fill in the ‘I would like to become a Ksa license holder’ online form on Kansspelautoriteit’s official website until June 21, 2019. The regulator told Gaming in Holland attendees that it is important for the regulatory body to know how many license applications it can expect in future. This would help Kansspelautoriteit to ensure a smooth licensing process, which is “not only in our own interest but also in the interest of the companies that are going to apply for a license”, Mr. Jansen added.
Market Modernization
The Netherlands kicked off the process of reorganizing its gambling market with the establishment of Kansspelautoriteit in 2012. The introduction of the Remote Gambling Bill in 2014 came as the next logical step. The bill aimed to replace laws and regulations spanning more than five decades back.
The bill provided for the regulation of online gambling, the privatization of Holland Casino, the state-run land-based casino operator, and the allocation of additional funds to charities from lotteries.
The piece of legislation was referred to the House of Representatives and lawmakers believed that it would be voted through the nation’s legislature and would take effect in 2015, paving the way for the market’s opening to international operators.
However, it took two years before members of the lower chamber of the legislature voted to approve the piece in June 2016. The Remote Gambling Bill also needed approval from the Senate. After multiple delays and amendments, the piece was finally passed in February 2019.
Mr. Jansen said last week that the Ministry of Justice is currently drafting a subordinate legislation that will be tacked onto the Remote Gambling Act. As soon as that process is finalized, Kansspelautoriteit will be able to move on to drafting the license application conditions.
The regulator’s Chair said that a process of this kind “places quite a high demand” on an organization the size of Kansspelautoriteit, but they are “doing everything in our power to get it done.” Mr. Jansen added that the agency could event hire external staff if it cannot manage with its permanent staff members.
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