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Rebels in Finland Even though the European Union seems to have it all figured out in terms of how to make several different and quite autonomous places coexist peacefully, some countries are notorious for continuing to flex their muscles and trying to get themselves out of following the rules. Perhaps this is most apparent in the world of online poker and gambling, where countries like Sweden Italy and Finland continue to close their eyes to the rules, and try to keep doing things the way they have always done them. While that makes sense in terms of an independent peacekeeping agenda, it makes things challenging for the unifying party that is trying to hold all these different countries together. Finland in particular is a repeat offender and has already had to answer to the EC a couple years ago on their transgressions. The main reason that online poker and gambling monopolies are not allowed in the EU is that it is in direct violation of the free trade agreement that all member countries were required to sign. That means that all economies involved must be fully open to each other and all trade privileges must be granted, and that includes all gambling activity. Currently Finland does not allow any other countries’ gambling companies to operate within their borders and requires all sites to have a Finish license. The European Commission is none to thrilled with the whole thing of course and has given them several deadline extensions to explain and justify the whole thing. Even if they are not doing anything this is very much a big deal, how the EC deals with them will set precedent for future similar dealings with other countries. Back to February 2009 Archive. |
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