Two months ago, Swedish government authorities announced that they were going to accelerate the procedure, concerning the new gambling rules and regulations and put them into force as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, they had to deal with several setbacks. Gambling matters were taken to the European Court of Justice since, according to the members of the European Commission, Sweden’s gambling rules were incompatible with the politics of the European Union.
And now, it does not look like the idea for renewing the existing gambling rules in a short notice will be put forward anytime soon. The main reason for the suspension was the snap general election, scheduled for March next year.
The Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven scheduled the election because Swedish authorities failed in securing a budget on Dec.3rd.
People, familiar with the Swedish political issues, think that the key factor that have led to the complicated situation was the reluctance of Sweden Democrats to support any bill that does not contain ideas for dealing with the immigration issue.
Actually, the snap election and respectively, the suspension of the gambling legislation, came as a surprise to everyone, involved in the gambling matters – players, gaming providers and Swedish residents, in general. A snap election has not been called for almost 60 years.
According to the majority of Swedish politicians, including the Prime Minister, some urgent changes need to be made as soon as possible. The Democrats are said to have control over the policies, established on the territory of the country, regardless of the small percentage of residents who supported them during the election in September.
Löfven commented that currently, Sweden Democrats are given the opportunity to lead Swedish politics in whatever direction they want to, so he considers the snap election to be an excellent opportunity for voters to change the entire landscape.
People, familiar with the matter, do not consider the snap election to pose any threat to the attempts Sweden makes for abolishing the monopolistic regime.
What is more, Gustaf Hoffstedt, a key figure on the Swedish political scene and the gambling affairs in particular, said that despite the announcement for elections the Prime Minister made, things have not developed too much since the previous week.
Yet, Hoffstedt did not manage to give a precise answer to interviewers’ questions, concerning the effect the crisis in the government will have on the gambling legislation and how severe it could be.
However, Swedish authorities expect criticism from the European Court of Justice unless they succeed in taking the measures necessary towards abolishing the monopoly on the local gambling market.
