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The United States may soon be able to separate themselves from the list of countries resisting online casinos and the expansion of online gambling.  The Dutch government is still fighting the uphill battle.  Despite the clearly stated principals of the European Union which allows free movement of goods and services across the boarders of member countries, the Dutch are determined to protect state run gambling monopolies against online casinos from foreign countries.

Fortunately the Netherlands is experiencing some stiff resistance from the online gambling world and the European continent.  Not only is the Netherlands facing a legal attack from Betfair, the European Commission has launched an investigation into the possible non compliance with European Union trade agreements.

However the Dutch will not simply lay down to online casinos but continues to fight the trend.  Recently Dutch Minister of Justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin attempted disrupt the business of online casinos by forcing Dutch banks to stop processing transactions from online casinos and online gambling sites.  This move is very similar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 in the United States.  Just last week legislation was introduced that may overturn the United States law.

“The European Commissioner [Charlie McCreevy] has asked the appropriate services to start an investigation into the banking blockade,” said a European Union spokesperson.

“As far as we are aware, the Netherlands is the only country in Europe to do such a thing.” 

Holland recently attempted the same actions when their Justice Ministry threatened banks and other financial institutions with legal prosecution if they continued to process transactions from online casinos.

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