57 Amendments of Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN related to 2012/2322(INI)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
- having regard to the case-law developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, whereby in the specific area of the organisation of games of chance, the Court notably recognizes consumer protection, the prevention of both fraud and incitement to squander on gaming, as well as the general need to preserve public order as reasons of overriding general interest that may justify restrictions on the freedom to provide services1,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2009 on the integrity of online gambling,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 14 October 2011 on online gambling in the Internal Market,
Amendment 14 #
paragraph 67; Case C-42/07Liga Portuguesa, paragraph 56; Joined Cases C 316/07, C 358/07 to C 360/07, C
- having regard to its resolution of 11 March 2013 on match-fixing and corruption in sports,
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 e (new)
Citation 4 e (new)
- having regard to the Council conclusions of 10 December 2010 and the progress reports of the French, Swedish, Spanish and Hungarian Presidencies on the framework for gambling and betting in the EU Member States,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital - A (new)
Recital - A (new)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital - A a (new)
Recital - A a (new)
- Aa. whereas the Article 169 of the TFEU obliges the EU to ensure high consumer protection;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital - A b (new)
Recital - A b (new)
- Ab. whereas the online gambling sector is different from other sectors on account of the risks involved in terms of protecting consumers from addiction and fraud and fighting against organised crime such as money-laundering and match-fixing;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital - A c (new)
Recital - A c (new)
- Ac. whereas online gambling, if not properly regulated, may involve a greater risk of addiction than traditional offline gambling, owing inter alia to increased ease of access and the absence of social control;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital - A d (new)
Recital - A d (new)
- Ad. whereas, on these grounds, online gambling is an economic activity of special nature, wherefore certain internal market rules, including the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services, and the principle of mutual recognition, do not preclude a sufficient degree of latitude to determine, inter alia, necessary measures for the protection of players;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, in the absence of harmonisation and with due regard to the principle of subsidiarity, the Member States maintain a margin of discretion to regulate online gamblinghave the right to determine how the offer of online gambling services is organised and regulated in accordance with their own values and pursued objectives of general interest, while observing Union law;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas Article 56 TFEU guarantees the freedom to provide services and whereas nevertheless, as a consequence of its particular nature, online gambling was exempted from the E-Commerce, Services and Consumer Rights Directives;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas gambling represents a considerable source of revenue, which most Member States channel to publicly beneficial, solidarity and charitable purposes such as grassroot sport funding;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the risks involved in terms of consumer protection, fraudposed by illegal online gambling offer to consumers and the need for the prevention of fraud and law enforcement against illegal activities, such as money laundering and match fixing, require coordinated action at EU level;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas a comprehensive overview of the online gambling marketsector, in terms of information and data regarding domestic and cross-border, intra-EU and global, authorised and unauthorised offer, is currently missing;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading -1 (new)
Subheading -1 (new)
Specific nature of the online gambling sector and consumer protection (This is the heading of the new first chapter of the report)
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Acknowledges that gambling is not an ordinary economic activity due to its potentially negative social impacts, such as compulsive gambling;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Stresses that due to the special nature of the online gambling sector, the protection of human health and consumers should be the main guiding principle when EU-level recommendations and national legislation are made;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. Recognizes that special attention has to be paid to the protection of consumers and human health and prevention of harmful effects;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1d. Considers that the main elements to ensure the protection of players should include the following: mechanisms for unambiguous identification of the players, measures to ensure a single account use only, self-imposed gambling limits and self-exclusion mechanisms based of the interoperability of national registers;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1e. Stresses that, on the one hand, providers of online gambling should in all cases respect the national laws of the Member States in which they operate and, on the other hand, that Member States should retain the right to impose restrictions they deem necessary and justified to address illegal online gambling in order to implement national legislation and exclude illegal providers from market access;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 f (new)
Paragraph -1 f (new)
-1f. Calls on the Commission to continue to explore actions at the EU level to protect vulnerable consumers, including cooperation between national competent authorities; (This is paragraph 11 of the original draft report.)
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 g (new)
Paragraph -1 g (new)
- 1g. Stresses that the expert group on gambling services should make particular effort to protect minors and limit as much as possible their access to online gambling sites;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 h (new)
Paragraph -1 h (new)
-1h. Believes that compulsive gambling requires additional research and data, and therefore calls on all Member States to carry out further studies to understand problem gambling; (This is paragraph 12 from the original draft report.)
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recognises that the Member States, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, have the right to determine how the offer of online gambling services is to be organised and regulated at the national level, while observing the basic EU Treaty principles;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that the Commission has sent letters to a number of Member States asking detailed information on their current gambling legislation; Calls on the Commission to continue the dialogue with Member States;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to continue to carry out effective checks onmonitor and enforce compliance with EU law of national laws and practices, and to take legal action against gambling monopolies that do not reduce gambling opportunities or limit promotional activities for gambling in a consistent manner, in line with CJEU case-those Member States who appear to breach EU law;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that those Member States that choose to open up their online gambling marketsector must provide for a transparent procedure based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, in full compliance with EU law;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses the importance of jointly defining the notion of legal operators so that Member States only authorize operators who fulfil at least the following requirements and are thus considered to be legal: (a) the operator must have a licence issued in the Member State of the player, (b) the operator seeking authorization in one Member State does not breach the law in any other Member State of the European Union, (c) the operator is in compliance with Union law.
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Invites the Member States to oblige the operators working with a licence of the Member States to carry in a prominent position the logo of the regulatory authority on its website;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Notes that the availability of the legal and responsible online gambling services may diminish the social costs of the harmful and undesirable effects of gambling activities; (This amendment is similar to original paragraph 10.)
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the expert group on gambling services and on the Commission to facilitate, as much as possible, the flow of data between regulators in theamongst Member State's regulators in order to allow forrender possible the establishment of a commonefficient system fors of identifying players and to makeication of players, enforcement measures against illegal operators, white lists and black lists, and self- exclusion mechanisms that include personal gambling limits, applicable throughout the EU;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to explore with Member States the possibilities to create EU-wide interoperability between national self-exclusion registers that include personal gambling limits, accessible by national authorities and licensed gambling operators, so that any customer self-excluding or surpassing one's gambling limits at one gambling operator has the opportunity to automatically be excluded from all other licensed gambling operators; (This is paragraph 13 from the original draft report.)
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Takes the view that common standards for online gambling should address the rights and obligations of the service provider and the consumer; including ensuring a high level of protection for players, particularly minors and other vulnerable persons and; Encourages the European gambling operators' associations to develop and adopt self- regulatory codes of conduct, including inter alia the obligation to observe the laws in all Member States and rules to avoid inappropriate advertisement; (This is paragraph 15 from the original draft report.)
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the expert group on gambling services and the Commission to facilitate as much as possible the flow of data amongst Member State's regulators in order to render possible the establishment of efficient, obligatory and reliable systems of identification of players, enforcement measures against illegal operators, white lists and black lists, and self exclusion mechanisms that include personal gambling limits, applicable throughout the EU;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance for the expert group to work towards more transparent procedures and removing unnecessary administrative burdens in Member States that prevent legal online operators from offering their services to consumers;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that self-regulatory initiatives can serve as good contributions for identifying the content of common standards; Reaffirms its position that, in as sensitive area as gambling, industry self-regulation can only complement but not replace national regulations; (This is paragraph 19 from the original draft report.)
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recommends the introduction of uniform and pan-European common standards for electronic identification and cross border e-verification services; (This is paragraph 16 in the original draft report.)
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses the fact that online gambling is a non-cash-based environment and that – given the dependency on third-party financial service providers – additional safeguards against money laundering can be found in the EU's regulatory framework for establishing and licensing financial service providersare needed; Notes the Commission's proposals for legislation to further strengthen the EU's defences against money laundering;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Emphasises that solid registration and unambiguous verification systems are key tools in preventing any misuse of online gambling, such as money laundering; identity verification can take advantage of already existing and developing online structures, such as bank and credit card online verification systems;
Amendment 381 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Stresses that it is an absolute necessity to prevent any player from creating more than one gaming account per company;
Amendment 383 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Insists that a registration process needs to include, as a mandatory feature and set and defined by the player, maximum loss limits covering a certain time period; at minimum level this feature must be present in games with short event frequency;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17d. Takes the view that all the online gambling companies operating in the EU area need to be registered as legitimate entities in the EU;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)
Paragraph 17 e (new)
17e. Stresses that all the Member States have to identify and designate the responsible public authority in charge of monitoring online gambling; the authority will also be authorised to intervene should any suspicious online gambling appear; gaming companies should also be required to inform the authority about any suspicious gaming activity;
Amendment 386 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 f (new)
Paragraph 17 f (new)
17f. Emphasises the need for close cooperation between national and EU authorities in preventing any criminal activity and problem gambling;