The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in the Netherlands is increasing pressure on the government to potentially impose a ban on online gambling.
In a recent statement, MP Inge van Dijk addressed Finance Minister Eelco Heinen and Dutch Tax Affairs State Secretary Folkert Idsinga on the issue.
According to Casinonieuws.nl, the MP also expressed concerns about the competitiveness of the state-owned Holland Casino in the current market conditions.
“The state must sell off Holland Casino,” MP Inge van Dijk said in her official request to Finance Minister Heinen and Tax Affairs State Secretary Idsinga. Van Dijk compares running the state-owned casino to “mopping while the tap is open”, pointing out the ineffectiveness of the government’s strategy to ensure responsible gambling through Holland Casino.
She believes that this strategy is losing its meaning against the backdrop of the mass issuance of licenses to private online gambling operators — up to “30 licenses a day”.
Online gambling in the Netherlands was brought under regulation in 2021 with the introduction of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA act).
Former Legal Protection Minister Frank Weerwind, who took over the post in 2022, took over responsibility for overseeing the gambling market and focused on streamlining legislation to improve its functioning. Despite his retirement from politics earlier this year, several reforms he managed to push through the House are set to come into force by the end of October.
Since the KOA’s introduction, criticism has continued to mount, peaking in 2023 when the CDA party announced a plan to introduce a “private members bill” led by MP Anne Kuik to repeal the KOA – a proposal that has not yet been implemented.
A significant victory for reformers came in April when Dutch MPs voted in favor of an amendment to the KOA that would ban almost all online gambling advertising.
Recently, the new Minister Teun Struycken, who replaced Frank Weerwind, was at the center of discussions among MPs, who asked whether he would complete the process of banning gambling advertising by extending it to social media, in addition to the already existing ban on television, radio and print.
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