Europe

Jake Pollard
Efforts to reduce problem gambling are making progress but remain a priority, says French gambling regulator ANJ. The monitoring policy instituted by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux with the aim of preventing excessive gambling has paid off and produced “observable results” over the past 12 months, said the French gambling regulator.

ANJ published its fourth report on the actions of online operators, those of the two offline monopolies FDJ (lottery) and PMU (horse racing tote) and the 203 land-based casinos, seven gaming clubs and 235 racecourses operating in France, and said that the objective of reducing the number of problem gamblers, ANJ’s strategic priority for the next two years, “must be pursued by all gambling operators”.

According to a study published by the Observatoire des Jeux in 2019, gross revenues from problem gamblers accounted for 38.3% of the French industry’s total figure, with almost 21% coming from excessive gamblers, the total number of players amou..

The government of Italy has settled on the new framework of licences for online gambling concessions.

A new structure for Italian online gambling concessions was published yesterday by Parliament’s Gazette as an amendment carried forward by the government’s ongoing ‘Reorganisation of Gambling‘ decree.

Recognised as a principal objective of the planned overhaul of Italian gambling laws, the government seeks to settle long-standing legal disputes between the ADM, Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency, and licensed operators on the conflicted terms of the renewal of licences.

A government intervention had suspended the ADM from terminating licences that were set to expire in 2023 and 2024.

Reaching a settlement, new online gambling concessions will be authorised by the end of 2024, with licences set to a nine-year limit and priced at €7m. The settlement sees Italian online gambling operators pay a premium of 35 times the previous price for online gambling licences, set at €200,000 sin..

GambleAware has initiated an invitation to tender for a partner to undertake the “Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).”

The tender is deemed a significant project by GambleAware, which will commission a learning and evaluation partner to carry out an evaluation that delivers independent, actionable, and robust insights into the effectiveness of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).

Formerly known as the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS), the NGSN was redesigned in 2022 to apply a regional approach for participating organizations to provide early and effective interventions on gambling harms and addiction.

NGSN is supported by eleven organizations offering treatment support and intervention services across the UK, including GamCare, Gordon Moody, BetKnowMore, and the RCA Trust.

The redesign of the NGSN was sanctioned following feedback to GambleAware that only a small group of people were accessing treatment services in Gr..

The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has extended the concession of Human Assistance Network for Daily Support (HANDS) to run the country’s Loket Kansspel gambling helpline.

Having already been the engine behind the problem gambling support service for a number of years now, HANDS will continue to offer players and those close to them assistance and guidance on gambling harm prevention.

Counsellors on the other side of the line are specially trained by HANDS to provide such help, and are available 24 hours a day throughout the week.

This gives KSA “sufficient reason to extend the current contract and continue to invest together in even better information provision on the website, even more effective interventions and even more visibility and brand awareness among the target group”.

According to KSA, more than 6,600 cases were registered in 2023 of players, friends and family members reaching out to Loket Kansspel either via phone or chat messaging to look for help ..

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has vowed to provide stakeholders with better evidence to ensure better outcomes for consumers and the public engaging with gambling.

The need for better evidence and enhanced data collection was outlined by the Commission’s launch of its new corporate strategy for 2024-27 tailored to adopt the recommendations set out in the government’s White Paper High Stakes – Gambling reform for the digital age.

The Commission maintains its statutory objectives governing UK gambling, in which principal duties include preventing gambling from becoming a source of crime or disorder, guaranteeing that gambling activities are conducted fairly and transparently, and to safeguard children and vulnerable individuals from harm or exploitation through gambling.

However, the Commission notes that a new three-year strategy carries the further duties of governing gambling ‘in the public interest’, encompassing the disciplines of “protecting consumers and the wider public, ..