Netherlands’ lottery monopoly gets questioned

Sports betting and lottery scratch cards will remain in possession of the state, but the lottery monopoly has been questioned.

Netherlands.- The Council of State of the Netherlands has questioned the lottery monopoly that currently operates in the country. The highest administrative court of the Netherlands found that the existence of only one licensee is insufficiently justified by the national gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit.

After an appeal by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), along with Betfair, Betclic and Unibet, the Council ruled that the existence of only one sports betting licence for the offline market, also granted to the state-owned lottery, was justified. The appeal came after members of EGBA were excluded from the national sports betting market due to a limited number of sports betting licences.

However, the Council of State also ruled that the gambling authority has to present convincing arguments to justify why it restricts the number of lotto games licences while it grants multiple for other forms of gambling. There is currently only one lotto licensee, Nederlandse Loterij, which is owned by the state.

EGBA will be in charge of deciding whether the Council’s ruling complies with EU Court of Justice jurisprudence and regulations, as well as national policies. Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the EGBA, said that the Council of State ruling is correct to question the justification of the Dutch Gaming Authority’s decision to grant a monopoly for lotto products. 

“[The] ruling not only underlines the fundamental importance of transparent licensing procedures but also underlines the need for the modernisation of the Dutch gambling laws and the regulation of the online gambling market which is unaffected by the Council’s ruling. A regulated online gambling offer is the only means to secure maximum channelling of Dutch customers, which the Council of State correctly identifies as the key policy instrument to obtain the best consumer protection.

“We continue to support the ongoing legislative process to regulate the online gambling market as experience from other EU countries shows that a multi-license system is best able to channel consumers to the regulated offer in the online environment,” added Haijer.

On the other hand, CEO of Nederlandse Loterij, Niels Onkenhout, welcomed the ruling of the Council of State and said: “We have taken notice of the ruling of the Council of State regarding our licences and note that the sole-licence system can continue to exist. This was explicitly confirmed by the Council of State with regard to both sports betting and scratch cards. The Netherlands Gaming Authority will have to substantiate this further with regard to our numbers lottery licence. We are confident that the regulator will succeed in this.”