Remote Gambling Act and Decree notified to European Commission

On 8 July 2020, the Ministry of Justice and Security notified the Remote Gambling Act (“Act”) and the Remote Gambling Decree (“Decree”) to the European Commission. This notification takes place in relation to the Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS). The purpose of this procedure (established on the basis of Directive (EU) 2015/1535) is to prevent technical barriers to trade in legislation of EU Member States. The latter are obliged to notify the European Commission of all draft technical regulations concerning products and information society services, before they enter into force as national legislation.

Both the Act and the Decree, as well as the Ministerial Regulation on Remote Gambling (“Regulation”) fall within this system. At the time of writing, only the draft version of the Regulation has been published. When it is finalized, the TRIS notification procedure will also have to be completed.

A so-called “standstill period” of, in principle, three months starts from the moment of submission. For the Act and Decree, this period therefore ends on 9 October 2020. During this period, the European Commission and other Member States will study the notified draft technical regulation. They will check whether the draft is in compliance with EU law and the principles of free movement of goods and services. The relevant regulations cannot be adopted during the standstill period.

In addition to the above, before the modernized Dutch legislation on remote games of chance can enter into force, the Netherlands Gambling Authority will also have to take a number of steps. The authority has for example indicated that it will submit the application form for a remote gambling licence to a public consultation. This consultation will only take place after the Regulation is finalized. The current official prognosis is that the Act will enter into force on 1 January 2021. However, in view of the debate in the House of Representatives of 18 June 2020, during which this matter was discussed, it can be assumed that the entry into force will be delayed by a few months until approximately March 2021. Still, to be able to achieve even this adjusted planning, the Ministry must speed up the finalization of the Regulation and subsequent notification.