Greek eGaming Bill Delayed

A draft eGaming bill that was presented to the Greek parliament by the Greek government at the end of last month seems to have been delayed amid concerns from the ruling party.

The Greek Socialist party (PASOK) decided to pull back the legislation as it expressed concerns with regards to the law that was put forward by the Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou.

The international news agency Reuters reported that a PASOK member of parliament stated that "There were objections… that Greece would become a vast casino" and another member of parliament has added that "We should not go towards full deregulation of gaming and gambling".

The bill was presented to the Greek parliament under the predication that the Greek treasury will be able to raise approximately €700 million just within 2011 from the issuing of 15 to 55 new gambling licenses.

The draft legislation has already suffered several setbacks since its first introduction back in January 2011. Initially it was planned to charge a 6% turnover tax and the parliament approved it.

Following pressure from the Remote Gambling Association, a lobbying group working within the EU to promote legal and regulated online gambling, the draft legislation was altered to include a 30% gross profit tax instead of the turnover tax.

Another change to the legislation came in late last month when the Greek government decided to abandon the proposed "black period" that would have forced existing online operators to desist from providing online gambling services to Greek players while applying for a valid license.

Now only time will tell what further changes will be implemented in the draft legislation and how long it will take before it is fully approved and the government can start the tender procedure for issuing licenses.