When drawing up their draft legislation on gambling regulation in the country, it’s hard not to think that the Romanians may well have had a few drinks at the time, or were simply trying to outdo each others’ suggestions. The most outlandish suggestion put forward in the plans was to bang up anyone who dared gamble online in jail for around two years. It’s little wonder then that the European Commission have seen that the Romanian draft regulations go the same way as those in Denmark and Poland which went back to the drawing board.
The main points of contention were the following four outlined by the European Commission when they dismissed the Romanian draft:
• the discriminatory prohibition of marketing and advertising activities for EU licensed companies which are not authorized in Romania
• the requirement for EU licensed online betting companies to have their servers in Romania
• the requirement for EU licensed online companies to be established in Romania
• the unjustified exclusion of online pool betting while all other forms of online gambling would be allowed.
The decision, made yesterday, extends the stand still period until 3rd November, during which Romania cannot adopt the draft legislation and are required to reply to the Commission. If they fail to take into account the Commission’s findings infringement proceedings may commence, meaning the EC cane will once again be put to use.
