Last year was full of events for a bunch of European countries that made attempts to have their gambling sectors expanded. Apparently, the gambling bills proposed were subject to heated debates and met the resentment of both – gaming operators and players.
Overall, countries that managed to implement new rules and regulations that were favorable to both sides were not that many. These are the European countries whose gambling authorities intended to change the outdated rules.
Although their success towards legalizing gambling activities was sporadic, the next couple of months are critically important as the expansion of the gambling sector, in most cases, goes hand in hand with the improvement of the economy. Those who are familiar with the current situation, have probably already predicted few of the countries that desperately need help for reviving their economy.
Romania
Mere days ago, it became clear that Romania is about to implement new rules and regulations and make them less strict so more foreign gambling operators are willing to become available on the gambling market within the country. What is more, the 25% tax imposed on winnings also deserves a considerable amount of attention since it is believed to be a huge setback for the further development of the gambling segment on Romanian soil.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands is among the countries whose gambling officials are working relentlessly towards the expansion of the gambling market and the online gambling legislation in particular.
This year will be critically important for country’s gambling affairs and the reason is pretty simple. Local players are interested in taking advantage of such kind of gaming options, which therefore means that country’s coffers are to be further funded. Despite being still in progress, the online gambling activities in the Netherlands attract plenty of residents. Plus, they are enabled to use certain online gambling options.
The United Kingdom
Last year was, by and large, a pretty eventful one when it comes to gambling legislation. No one who keeps an eye on the widely disputed Point of Consumption tax would deny that its implementation made a lot of gaming operators change their policies in order to become compatible to the new requirements.
Not to mention the disagreements and the claims of Gibraltar-based companies, which even postponed the tax implementation with a month. However, UK-based players and operators should prepare for another unpleasant change. The tax is to be reviewed once again in the next couple of weeks.
Spain
Spain has been discussing the expansion of the gambling market for a long time but it was not until the last quarter of 2014 when the Spanish gambling regulators figured out all details concerning its further development. They decided to issue a few licenses to promising gambling operators with the aim of making the economy more stable. In addition, the gambling market itself is to be diversified because the gambling providers that are to be awarded a license will have to focus on promoting online slots and casino games.
Poland
Apparently, Polish authorities have realized that the online gambling legislation would be extremely beneficial to the country’s well-being and the “leakage” caused by the widespread participation in illegal gambling activities will be considerably reduced. It has not been confirmed yet if there would be a tax increase for Poland-based gaming providers. Presumably, everything will become clear anytime soon.
