EGBA: Player protection in the online gambling should be strengthened

The market for online gambling has grown rapidly in recent years. This not only has positive aspects, because a lot on the market is rarely regulated and player protection is rarely regulated. The European Gambling Association (EGBA) has now made it clear as part of the 19th Safer Internet Day 2002 Conference that the player protection should be strengthened. Initiatives for game addiction prevention, gambling advertising and new studies are to be started.

Different initiatives for player protection planned

According to a press release, in the area of game addiction prevention Crime four initiatives planned. A common European standard should first be formulated. The EGBA also wants to implement the European Commission’s recommendations. On July 14, 2014, the Commission adopted different principles. The EU Commission initiated the Safer Internet Day in 2004. This day has found more and more colleagues in recent years and continues beyond the European borders.

In the meantime, 200 countries are involved in the Safer Day. The event is primarily concerned with topics such as cyber bullying, social networks, data protection and digital identity. At the past conference, the fourth time was also in series Online gambling game discussed. This takes up an ever larger place at the Safer Day. The measures of the members to refer to the responsible gambling of the EGBA are to be published as a further aspect. It is also planned to organize the second European Safe Gambling Week. This took place for the first time in 2021 and was celebrated as a great success from all sides.

New studies are to be commissioned

Another concern of the EGBA is to advance gambling research. This has been neglected in recent years and the number of usable studies is limited. Therefore, the EGBA would like to commission a study to monitor the game perspective in Europe. In addition, a central source of information for players is to be created who want to exclude themselves.

As a further help, a source of information about the existing player aids in Europe is to be set up. EGBA would like to significantly increase the monitoring of its own members. In 2020, the association had made a code of conduct public. A year later, the members declared that they wanted to implement these measures. External checks are to ensure whether these requirements are actually met. This task is taken over by an independent party.

About the EGBA

The EGBA was founded in 2007 and was known for a long time as European Betting Association. The association is based in Brussels and represents the leading online gambling and betting providers on European stage. The EGBA works with national, EU authorities and other representatives of interest. In total, the EGBA has more than 16.5 million customers in Europe. The aim is to ensure regulations that promote player protection. In addition to the safe and responsible game, the association wants to strengthen the EU nations in such a way that these regulations are implemented. The countries should do everything so that gambling activities do not take place on the unregulated market. The market for online gambling is one of the rapidly growing in Europe. For 2023, sales will be estimated at 29.3 billion euros. In 2018, sales were still 22.2 billion euros. Further growth will also be expected in the coming years.