Norway’s Proposed Online Gambling Ban Under SurveillanceEuropean Free Trade Association Warns Norway on Proposed Ban on Financial Transactions to Online Gambling Companies |
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Norway has been warned by the European Free Trade Association’s Surveillance Authority that its plans to stop financial transactions to all gaming operators except the state monopoly breach EFTA internal market freedoms.
According to the Remote Gambling Association, the EFTA ESA has reminded Norwegian 
authorities that “such measures constitute an unjustified restriction of the freedoms of the internal market for gambling services.”
Norway’s new laws are expected to come into effect in August 2009 and will require all financial institutions in the country to “prohibit the processing of payments (via debit and credit cards, bank transfers and e-money) related to gambling ‘without a Norwegian license’, according to the RGA.
RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood said, "It is difficult to believe that the aim of the proposed measures is to protect consumers and restrict gambling given the Norwegian monopoly’s appetite for recruiting new players and the extent of its marketing campaigns. The Norwegian authorities appear to be more motivated by the need to protect revenues from gambling, but this is not a valid justification to restrict the internal market rules.”
The EFTA is a trade bloc comprising Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein.
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