Internet Gambling Policy in Europe

A biotope for the protection of the variety of species – this is a likely picture to pop up in the mind of an observer of regulations and controls of online gambling in europe, a young industry that emerged in 1995 when the government of Liechtenstein granted the ‘International Lottery of Liechtenstein Foundation’ the permit to operate certain online lottery formats. ¹ Since then, no ‘unité de doctrine’ has developed among the roughly 40 independent countries ² and the handful of semi-independent territories ³ deemed to constitute europe. On the contrary, each of these jurisdictions tends to apply a rather generic model that shows little consideration of common interests and needs, but all the more of historically grown structures, typically of a monopolistic nature, that are to be protected against commercial operators acting within or across domestic borders. This pattern results in a colorful variety of sometimes odd species, of which this chapter intends to sketch some of the most interesting features.