It appears that the Danish government intends to come down on online casinos.  There is talk of a preparing legislation similar to the American Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.  The UIGEA, instead of outlawing online gambling, complicated the financial transfers on which the industry survives.

There is a strong possibility that if the Danes decide to move forward with their anti-online casinos legislation, changes could come as early as next month.  Any such action against online casinos could get the country in trouble with the European Commission that is already paying close attention to the monopolistic nature of Danish gambling policy.

The European Commission finds the Danish Pools and Lottery Act in direct conflict with existing EU ruling.  In addition, the commission finds Denmark’s attempts to hamper the free development of betting service to be unfair and disproportionate.  The Commission issued the warning to Denmark: “If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.”

The Danish Pools and Lottery Act only allows Danske Spil legal authority to offer gambling and betting services.  In the past, The European Gaming and Betting Association has requested that the European Union have the Danes answer to the European Court of Justice for their protectionist actions.

Many notable companies in online casinos and poker sites are a part of the EGBA, including: Party Gaming, Unibet, Bwin, Expekt, Bet-At-Home.com, and Interwetten Gaming.
 
The EGBA released this statement in their newletter:

“We believe that any anti-online gambling legislation which is proposed or upheld by individual member states is likely to be breaking EU law. The EGBA is fighting against this discriminatory legislation as we believe that it is being introduced primarily to protect state-run monopolies.”
 
“Opening up markets to competition gives consumers the benefits of lower prices and a wider choice of products and suppliers. A competitive environment, especially in the online world where technology reigns and trust in a brand is paramount, also helps promote consumer security and game fairness.”