Sweden needs a plan B, says regulator
Lotteriinspektionen director-general HÃ¥kan Hallstedt calls for back-up plans but says total ban on gaming would be "unacceptable"
Sweden needs to draft a ‘plan B’ in the event the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules its current online regulatory framework to be uncompliant with EU law, the country’s regulator has said.
The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against Sweden and its monopolised regulatory system – Svenska Spel currently has the exclusivity to offer online poker and sports betting.
According to HÃ¥kan Hallstedt, director-general of Lotteriinspektionen, the proceedings leave the regulator “standing on the threshold” with the prospect of its current Lottery Act being rejected.
Hallstadt said that should the courts rule against the framework, the regulator would have “no extra time or transition period” to make necessary changes to conform to the law, leaving the open the door to a number of operators to take advantage of what would then become a grey market.
“That certain operators immediately would try to profit from the unclear situation is a given,” Hallstedt said. “The foremost indication is the current huge growth of advertising by operators without licence in Sweden.”
The regulator previously revealed it had been looking into ways to change its Act, however, those plans look likely to be delayed by the country’s general election next month while Hallstedt said full regulatory reform in the country would take around three years “if all necessary resources are used in the best possible manner”.
To combat potential market infiltration during a time of change, Hallsted said “a call to action is appropriate” although ruled out a total ban on gambling activities while it reformed the Act “ something which was enacted by the Dutch regulator in the build-up to its own regulation.
“There is therefore, in my view, the need for some sketch-work to be done of a plan B,” he said, adding that “to not rock the boat is not entirely without problems”.
In May this year Lotteriinspektionen revealed that its regulated gambling market saw a 5.5% decline in turnover for the first three months of 2014, with Svenska Spel recording a 4.8% slump in turnover to SEK5.5bn (£50m).
This was followed last month by Svenska Spel revealing that it had requested approval from the Swedish authorities to launch an online casino, citing the potential for such a launch to prevent unregulated operators from profiting from the market.