HomeGambling IndustryEGBA champions a now-approved common EU standard on harm

EGBA champions a now-approved common EU standard on harm

LAWS AND REGULATIONS20 Jan 2023
3 min. read
Together we stand.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has played a pivotal role in the passing of a pan-European law that will seek to elevate standards for gambling-related harm and help improve safe & responsible gambling levels on the European level.

The proposal to introduce common standards for "markers of harm" for the online gambling industry was pitched earlier by the association and has now been approved by the Members of the European Committee for Standardization or CEN.

This should effectively allow for strengthening player protection on the continent. This law should enable jurisdictions and EGBA members to act in unison when applying laws and regulations to markers of harm, which indicate whether an individual is experiencing distress related to their gambling activity.

The markers include gambling behavior, speed, time, duration of sessions, and so on. Through standardization, CEN and EGBA agree that stakeholders and businesses would be able to better identify when a person may be struggling with gambling and when intervention is needed.

Thanks to the standardization of the markers, businesses will be in a good position to introduce intervention mechanisms that address the issue at a deeper, more intuitive level, and that are further committed to tackling gambling-related harm. While businesses already do use a variety of markers of harm, their standardization should allow them to agree on a robust framework rather than adjust those from one market to the next.

Saving time to tackle local regulatory expectations of markers of harm will enable businesses to worry less so about compliance, and work more so on the actual intervention and protection strategies. CEN originally voted on the matter in December and is now expecting to see these markers integrated as part of the law in the first quarter of the year.

EGBA Secretary General Maarten Haijer has hailed the decision by CEN to back EGBA’s proposal and see it established as a common framework that enables businesses and regulators to agree on markers of harm.

"This decision is a milestone and a significant step forward for safer gambling in Europe," the executive assured. Haijer hailed the efforts put in by members of the association who also showed strong support for the initiative, which was then taken up by CEN. Thanks to this concerted effort, European gambling businesses will have the opportunity to pool together their resources and work for the betterment of the entire industry.

EGBA also recently presented its report for the gambling industry in Europe covering 2022 in detail.


Image credit: Unsplash.com

20 Jan 2023
3 min. read
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