Portuguese online gaming bill inches closer
Expiry of European Commission standstill period enables country to pass bill into law despite EU compatibility concerns
Portugal’s plan to implement a regulated online gaming framework has overcome one of its final hurdles after the European Commission said it was free to pass its bill into law despite concerns over its compatibility with European law.
The framework is on track to be implemented by the summer, with Portugal’s Office of the Inspection of Games previously setting out a H1 2015 launch date.
In September the Portuguese government sent its draft bill to the Commission as part of a procedural three-month inspection, however, this period was extended by one month after the Commission issued Portugal with a detailed opinion highlighting potential breaches of EU law, the details of which are confidential.
However, the extended standstill expired on Monday enabling the country to pass the bill into law.
“Portugal can now adopt the law without the risk of it being inapplicable because of a violation of the standstill period provided for in Directive 98/34,” a Commission spokesperson told eGaming Review this morning.
But the Commission will now watch closely to see if Portugal makes any suggested amendments to the submitted draft.
“As a detailed opinion has been issued, the law may be in violation of other provisions of EU law. So, alternatively, Portugal might amend the law, taking into account the detailed opinion,” the spokesperson added.
Reservations over the viability of the market for sportsbooks remain with the Portuguese government said to be sticking to its plan of implementing a sports betting tax based on turnover, rather than the revenue levy applied to gaming.
Remote Gambling Association (RGA) chief executive Clive Hawkswood last year described the betting tax as “punitive” and today told eGR that a revision of the tax was unlikely to take place any time soon.
“We’ve had sympathetic hearings from all of the main political groups with offers of future reviews, but realistically none of that will be possible until after the elections so the regime looks certain to come in as planned,” Hawkswood said.
“Detailed regulations have still to emerge so it’s hard to say whether they might be problematic but in a nutshell the prospects for online gaming look good and those for online betting do not,” he added.
Portugal’s tax has broadly been set at 15% GGR for gaming and between 8% and 16% of turnover for sports betting.
It has been proposed that current monopoly Santa Casa da Misericórdia will receive 27% of online tax receipts, something the RGA previously claimed would constitute a payment of illegal state aid.