It is bizarre what is happening with online casinos in Europe.  Up until now the European Union was making steady progress toward a properly regulated online gambling industry.  Now, however this ruling on the case between Bwin and Portugal seems to have derailed a lot of the progress that online casinos had made on the continent.  It not as if the European Commission passed its own version of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, but the ruling made by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg may be worse for online casinos.

According to the court ruling free movement of goods and services – in this case – online casinos – can be restricted if the public interest is at stake.  This gives countries attempting to preserve their domestic gambling industry a means to legally prohibit online casinos.

“Games of chance involve a high risk of criminal activity or fraud, in view of the scale of the earnings and the potential winnings on offer to players,” continued the court ruling.

Because there is limited direct contact between gamblers and online-betting services, there is a “different and more substantial risk of fraud compared with traditional markets for such games.” 

It is clear that online casinos have a long way to go for proper regulation in Europe.  The Portugal case is not the loss of the war, but the loss of a very significant battle.  Regulatory disputes over online casinos are in full swing in several other European nations, such as Germany, Greece, Sweden, and the Netherlands.