In an article published in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the Swedish Minister for Public Administration, Ardalan Shekarabi, has announced that the Swedish government will investigate the abolishment of the current monopoly and the introduction of a Swedish licensing system, wherein non-licensed gambling providers should effectively be prevented from providing their services on the Swedish market.
Furthermore, Ardalan Shekarabi continues, the investigation should review the need for additional requirements on marketing of gambling and lotteries, and how unlicensed service providers should be prevented from marketing their services in Sweden. In a following interview with Swedish radio, Ardalan Shekarabi states that possible actions to enforce a new licensing system could be to block unlicensed offshore gambling sites and prevent payments to unlicensed offshore gambling sites.
It is still too early to conclude which changes this investigation will lead to. However, it seems as if the pressure from the European Commission has finally led to an honest review of the Swedish gambling monopoly, and not only a smokescreen intended to calm down critics while keeping the current regime.
The result of the investigation should be presented by 31 March 2017. Thus, the current regime will most likely remain in effect for quite a few years to come.
The original article published in Dagens Nyheter is available at the following link (in Swedish):
The interview with Ardalan Shekarabi is available at the following link (in Swedish)
Related article: Sweden referred to CJEU for i-gaming
