Background
Online gambling is a fast growing technological sector, with millions of consumers participating in some form of online gambling across the EU.
Despite the economic significance and cross border nature of the market, there is no EU legislation harmonising the online gambling sector. It is up to the Member States to regulate the non-harmonised aspects of the gambling sector, through national legislation.
The effect of this is that a heterogeneous European gambling market has been produced, where different standards and rules governing online gambling vary by Member State.
In the absence of pan-European regulation, industry standards and self-regulation are for the time being the most effective complement to national legislation in order to develop and maintain - cross-border - a safe and secure environment for consumers throughout the EU.
The European Parliament's 'Initiative Report on the Integrity of Online Gambling' produced in February 2009, applauded industry efforts but said that self-regulation did not go far enough in creating a safe and responsible pan-European industry.
The aim of the Workshop is to achieve an agreement on preserving consumer and stakeholder confidence in the industry and ensure that the online gambling industry operates in accordance with best practice and high standards.
CEN Workshop Agreement
The CEN Workshop Agreement will be a policy tool that can be used by policy makers to address the challenges of developing a safe and secure online gambling environment.
CEN Workshop status
The Workshop has completed its activities in December 2010 and published:
CWA 16259 : 2011 - Responsible Remote Gambling Measures
Contact points
CEN Workshop Chairman
Mr Andrew Beveridge
eCOGRA Limited
Tel: + 44 207 887 1480
E-mail
CEN Workshop Secretariat
NEN
Ms Charlotte Mosies
Tel: + 31 15 2690133
E-mail
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre
Ms Karolina Krzystek
Avenue Marnix 17
B-1000 Brussels
Tel: + 32 2 550 09 39
E-mail