Both the Dutch Liberty Party and Labour Party coalition government have announced their plans to overhaul the gambling regulations in the country. The good news is that the new government will begin issuing egaming licenses before the end of the current term and will be privatizing the countries gaming monopoly Holland Casinos Group.
One of the major points with the new structure and issuing licenses is that there will be a further crackdown on unlicensed operators as this is not a breach of the EU free trade agreements. The consultation period will begin in early 2013 and there will be essentially two elements planned for the “modernization” of the online gambling policy that will be put into place.
One of the major points is the 29% Gambling Tax that will raise an estimated €31m per annum but further details on the regulatory regime have not been given. Part one of the regulatory licenses for consideration will be the issuing of Lottery Licenses but that has come under scrutiny already by operators.
It looks likes an auction process to get a license, but Betfair already contested that in a court of law and won due to a lack of transparency.