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European regulators target scratch card games’ appeal to minors
Gambling regulators in six European nations have agreed to tighten their oversight of scratch card games and their potential appeal to minors.
The watchdogs in Britain, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, and Portugal have stated that they will collaborate to ensure the successful execution of their respective player protection regulations on gaming products.
According to a joint statement, the increased attention on underage players stems from the fact that while the games appear harmless to the public when shared between parents and minors, they are a gambling product that poses danger.
The Austrian Ministry of Finance, the Gambling Commission, the GGL in Germany, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux, DGOJ, the Portuguese SRIJ, and the Austrian Ministry of Finance all observed that scratch card games occupy a “significant size” of their respective markets.
Their statement said:
“We would like to recall that, although the European Union guarantees the free provision of services and freedom of establishment, including for gambling operators, the CJEU recognised that member states can impose proportionate restrictions on these freedoms to regulate gambling, and in particular to protect players through national laws.
However, many of us have noticed that these principles are increasingly being called into question in our various jurisdictions, in particular through certain preliminary reference procedures.
We now wish to cooperate, or even intervene, in these proceedings in order to guarantee compliance with the Court’s case law protecting players.”
To discuss the intensified oversight, a meeting was organized in Vienna, Austria on June 11–12. In the conflict between EU Court of Justice rulings and national regulations, the regulators also pledged to keep an eye on player safety.
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