EU and USTR Met to Dispute Online Gambling

July 16, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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The European Union Representative and the United States Trade Representative met yesterday in order to continue talks to discuss bilateral trade relations, including the issue of the protectionist nature of the US with regards to Internet gambling.

The European Union Trade Commissioner, Catherine Ashton, and the United States Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, and their teams, met in Washington to discuss the various trade issues that need addressing.

In May, the parties managed to come to an understanding regarding a dispute about beef hormones. In this meeting, there were a number of other bilateral issues that were discussed, with suggestions put forward of potential ways to move ahead. One of those issues was about online gambling.

A recent investigation by the EU concludes that the policies of the US are hampering trade where it concerns online gambling, and that the EU can take their case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with claims of infringement. The EU sees the online gambling ban, brought forth from the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), as a protectionist act, since it blocks the free trade in services of online gambling operators. This has negatively affected EU Internet gambling operators.

A number of gambling operators that are based in the EU claim billions of dollars in damages from the US since the online gambling ban was instituted. Many online gambling operators paid the US millions of dollars in order to have inquiries dropped in connection with cases in which the US government accused them of breaking the law of the United States.

One of the major complaints of the EU is that although online casinos are banned, online horse racing has been encouraged and allowed to grow in the US.

Kirk and Ashton are hoping that the issues will be able to be settled in an amicable fashion, and both parties had agreed that the meeting was more about setting out plans for developing talks, as opposed to trying to find immediate resolutions.

After the meeting the, Commissioner Ashton and Ambassador Kirk released a joint statement. One of the points stated "We discussed the European Commission Trade Barrier Regulation Report on online gambling and its implications for the WTO (World Trade Organization) rights and obligations of the parties concerned."

Both parties feel confident that they will find solutions to the issues raised, and have instructed their negotiators "to identify and exploit new opportunities for market-opening and economic integration."