Although European Union law allows cross-border trade by gambling companies, many individual states still prevent it.
According to Ewout Keuleers, an attorney at the Bar of Brussels, is “a question of timing” and the restrictions to cross-border online gambling will face a growing number of legal challenges and could fall away.
“In two or three years, part of the market will be opened up for more socially acceptable forms of gambling such as sports betting. It\’s also possible there will be an opening for poker, if courts view it as a game of skill,” he said.
“In theory there are restrictions, but in reality the restrictions are becoming increasingly difficult to enforce. It\’s unlikely that within 2006 we\’ll see an open gambling market in the EU, but slowly we\’ll get there,” he added.
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