Dutch regulator criticises lack of power: “We had to go to war in the lion’s den with a toothbrush”
Outgoing KSA vice-chair Henk Kesler says he does not look back on his tenure with great satisfaction
Outgoing Dutch gaming regulator, Henk Kesler, has bemoaned the KSA’s lack of power, comparing the regulator’s fight with operators to “entering a lion’s den with a toothbrush”.
Kesler and Jan Suyver, the vice-chair and chair of the KSA respectively, stood down this week, with the two men discussing their roles at a high-level gathering in the theatre Diligentia in The Hague.
“Unfortunately we were not allowed to do what we wanted to do,” Kesler said. “For that reason, I do not look back with great satisfaction.
“A nice organisation has been set up, but politics has not delivered what we were promised at the start of the Gaming Authority: a toolbox to steer online gambling on a regulated market.”
Kesler added: “I once said that we had to go to war in the lions’ den with a toothbrush. The consumer deserves protection, but politicians must give the KSA the means to do so.”
In his own speech, Suyver said the legalisation of online gambling was “on the right track”.
A key issue during their tenure at the KSA has been the long-delayed Remote Gaming Bill, which was first authorised by the Dutch parliament in 2016 but has yet to enter Dutch law due to a lack of consensus on the so-called ‘physical presence’ clause.
Referencing this lack of agreement, Jan Suyver put this down to a “complicated, ideological dossier in which there is a wide range of insights and interests”, but attacked the delays.
He added: “The consumer simply has the right to be protected. I always say: even though you are against gambling, that cannot be a reason not to arrange it. Rather, on the contrary, I would say.”
However, the deadlock on this issue looked to be over, when Dutch Minister for Justice and Security Sander Dekker, announced a cross-party agreement on the clause earlier this year, seemingly clearing the way for the Remote Gaming Bill is to be put back on the legislative agenda in the upcoming session of the Dutch States General.
Suyver added: “The answer to parliamentary questions took a long time. I have the impression that the file now has more attention, I have also asked for it from the Secretary-General. The legalization of online games of chance is also mentioned in the coalition agreement, which is a good sign.”
Suyver has been replaced by René Jansen, formerly a director at the Dutch Healthcare Authority, while Kesler’s successor as vice-chairman is Bernadette van Buchem, who is currently the director of consumers at the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets.