Most Common Online Casino Restrictions in some Member States of the EU

Thinking back of the history we can admit that many gambling activities originated in Europe. Many of the first casinos were built in Europe. Additionally to this, the most popular table games were created in Europe. Shortly said gambling has always been an integral part of European culture.

From the other hand, Europe is also the place where the first gambling regulations and restrictions were introduced.

As the governments believe that regular online casino games are too addictive, in order to protect their citizens many European countries have created strict  gambling legislation.

Have a look below at some of the most common online casino restrictions in different countries members of the EU.

Gambling Laws in Italy

In Italy gambling has flourished for centuries. It is believed that the oldest casino in the world was located here, in Venice. Italy is also home of one of the best table games, Baccarat.

During the centuries Italy imposed also many gambling restrictions. Lottery betting and sports betting were the only legal form of gambling here. According to another rule players were not allowed to play on foreign gambling sites. It's only in 2006 that things started changing when poker, video poker and certain cash games were legalized. In 2010 fixed odds betting games were only added to the permitted games.

By the new gambling laws the Italian citizens were allowed to have access to foreign gambling sites and their services. These sites had to have an Italian gambling license from the AAMS (Autonomous  administration of State Monopolies). Only operators offering casino games, horse race and sports betting, bingo games, poker games and games of skill can get such licenses.

Gambling Laws in Spain

In general gambling has been flourishing in Spain. This country is much more liberal when we speak about online gambling. The first Spanish Gambling Act was accepted in 2011. Almost all forms of online gambling have been legalized with this law. An electronic system to help regulate and supervise all betting activities has been recently established.

From one hand we can say that Spain is very liberal, but speaking about foreign operators the legislation is much stricter. According to a Rule an online operator can only obtain a Spanish license if they have a Spanish domain.

Gambling Laws in France

France is the country with the most strict online gambling legislation. It was only in 2009 that the French government issued a law for the legalization of the three forms of online gambling: sports betting, horse race betting and poker. After this Act the ARJEL was created (The French Regulatory Authority for Online Games).

Before 2009 French Citizens were allowed only to play in land based casinos.

The French Regulatory Authority for Online Games has the authority to monitor the online gambling activities in the country. It has also the right to issue gambling licenses to operators in France.

Gambling Laws in Germany

Germany can be admitted as the country with the most luxurious land based casinos in the world. Another interesting fact about this country is that it has the most complex gambling legislation among the EU member states. Over the past few years the government has introduced many changes to their legislation, but the rules stay still very complicated and confusing. Here are some examples for this.

The only legal form of online betting at the beginning was the horse race betting. Then in 2008 all gambling activities became illegal. But in one German state betting was legalized and even they started issuing gambling licenses. In 2012 this was forbidden after signing the German Interstate Treaty. This treaty made impossible to issue gambling licenses within the country. In the same year the government started procedures for sports betting licenses. But in 2016 sports betting was declared to be illegal.

All the best German online casinos can be found listed here.