EOGL Executive Committee Meeting 2017
Annual EOGL Executive Committee Meeting was held during ICE 2017 in London. It was excellent opportunity for gaming professionals to exchange opinions about actual trends in the industry.
All participants, mostly representatives of operators, confirmed dedication to basic principles of free market of European Union, emphasizing principles about fair competition and reasonable and sustainable taxation:
- a) National regulations must comply with free provision of services guaranteed by EU Treaty
- b) Restrictions to the free provision of services must be non-discriminatory, proportionate and consistent with the objectives pursued
- c) Taxation must comply with EU state-aid rules, i.e. comparable gambling products must be subjected to same fiscal treatment
- d) Open licensing regime for European operators with all products and a workable tax system based on GGR
EOGL will continue to promote Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) tax versus turnover tax because applying turnover tax licensed operators are less competitive, such taxation encourage customers to play with unregulated operators and defeat the basic purpose of regulation.
Discussing about some intentions to propose taxation of all winnings, EOGL professionals agreed that tax on winnings must look thorough annual income taxation because tax on all winnings has the same undermining effect at regulated market as turnover tax.
EOGL will continue to promote all kind of Responsible Gaming activities and to encourage operators and associations to apply the best practices across the World. Education of employees to recognize first potential signs of gaming addiction was named as one of the most efficient preventive activity. Talking about Responsible Gaming, special attention was pointed to some bad examples of putting betting and other gaming terminals outside specialized spaces, because such a practice cannot protect minors and it is difficult to apply other responsible gaming measures.
The final conclusion of EOGL Executive Committee Meeting 2017 could be summarized in one sentence – the best market is well regulated market with fair and sustainable taxation and with protected environment for consumers.
