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Online casinos are legal in the United Kingdom and some parts of Europe.  Now there are people that want online casinos out of Europe.  Danish Socialist MEP Christel Schaldemose released a report recently reviewed by the European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection Division.  The report itself will not directly lead to the ban of online casinos in Europe, but Schaldemose certainly is not doing the industry any favors. 

By releasing this report, Schaldemose was hoping to urge the European Union toward a single code of conduct regarding online casinos.  She believed it important that member states have a joint measure to regulation, as opposed to insufficient self regulation. 

Europe is all over the place when it comes to online casinos, which makes it hard to enforce any gambling regulations in the Union.  20 countries in the European Union allow online casinos and Internet gambling, while seven countries have banned online casinos.  There are liberalized markets in 13 of the countries of the European Union and six countries maintain state owned monopolies. 

Schaldemose supports the prohibition of online casinos in a country under several varying circumstances, such as reasons pertaining to consumer protection, maintenance of public order, preserving public order, and preventing gambling from becoming a means of private profit. 

The opinions enclosed in Schaldemose’s report were for the most part welcomed by members of the committee.  Portuguese Socialist deputy Joel Hasse-Ferreira stated the concern that increasing regulations on online casinos within the European Union did not necessarily mean countries outside of the Union will follow suit.

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