European Commission approves Danish gambling reform

slators at the European Commission have given their approval to Danish parliamentary measures designed to increase competition in the countries online bingo and horse race betting industries.

A monopoly system exists in both sports with Danish operator Danske Spil A/S currently the only operator able to offer betting on horse/dog/pigeon racing and online bingo in Denmark.

However the draft legislation which was adopted by the Danish parliament last week will end the monopoly and open up online bingo to private operators, provided they obtain licences which will be issued by Danish gaming regulators.

An ultimate objective of this change is “channelling players away from the unregulated market into a Danish regulated market, including Danish protection of the players”.

New laws will also open up betting on horse, dog and pigeon racing to outside operators and see the introduction of introduce a special horse racing only tax contribution on betting turnover of 8%.

According to figures recently released by the Danish Gambling Authority, the Danish online gambling market was worth an estimated DKK3.7 billion ($559.4 million) in 2016, up from DKK3.3 billion in 2015.

Measures to open up the online bingo and betting markets will take effect 1 January 2018.