Everyone is awaiting the European parliamentary vote on licensing and regulating the online casino industry for member states of the European Union. The outcome of such an event will be significant on so many levels, for both industry businesses and players as it will decide how online gambling will be approached in several countries. If the outcome is to result negative, it would hurt so many jobs and people would be deprived of playing online, so they are really keeping everyone on their toes.

The plenary will cast a vote on Tuesday, September 10th in Strasbourg, France, where the official seat of the European Parliament is located. A report by Ashley Fox, a British member of the Parliament suggested that the European Union should license online gambling operators throughout its entire territory. This gave everyone hope for a better situation for the industry; however, this suggestion has been changed and replaced by a recommendation for the continuing regulation of online gambling by national authorities in the different member states.

The second option is much riskier for everyone involved, as it is no secret that many countries, not only in Europe but the entire world, raise eyebrows on online gambling. This would also represent much more paper work and procedures for online casinos and online casino players, since they would have to comply to different laws and licensing requirements in every country. The new recommendation does encourage a higher level of co-operation between the multiple EU members in order to enforce consumer protection and prevent fraud and money laundering.

A pragmatic approach to this suggestion mentions that the member states should exchange blacklists of online gambling operators, as well as communal blocking of access to illegal websites. We all know how crazy Greece got with their blacklist and national gambling monopoly (in case you missed it, the country blacklisted 401 online gambling websites at once!) so we would definitely want to stay away from co-operative approaches to security if they involve actions like Greece's.

These news have been of great interest to everyone in the industry, especially to those of us devoted to making the online casino experience one that is safe and entertaining, with no room to fraud or corruption. It is good to see that the European Parliament is working on solid plans to implement concerning our industry and protecting it from malicious conducts. Whatever the result is, it will hopefully benefit those online casino sites working hard to operate legally. We will keep you updated on the outcome of the vote.