Austria has taken a major step towards the planned opening of its online casino market in 2027 by submitting its proposed legal amendments to the EU, but it reveals that any hopes of removing the controversial cooling off period have been dashed.
On August 4, the Austrian government confirmed that it had sent the legal text that would allow for an open licensing model for online gaming to the EU’s TRIS platform, to allow for it to be reviewed by interested parties, including other national governments and the European Commission.
Despite lobbying efforts to have it removed, still baked into that plan is a requirement that any company looking to obtain a licence in the future removes itself from the county’s grey market before January 1, 2027.
Austria’s version of a so-called cooling off period has met with consistent criticism from the industry, and even some parts of the country’s government, but inclusion in its EU filing strongly suggests that the Finance Ministry is firmly committed to its plan.
Any company which fails to leave the Austrian igaming market before that deadline faces an 18 month delay from the date that it subsequently ceases activity before it is permitted to apply for a licence.
From 2030, that window of punishment extends to 30 months.
The clock is ticking
Austria plans to end its existing online casino monopoly from October 2027, but that plan faces a tight schedule.
The date that a document is submitted to TRIS it enters a minimum three month standstill period, during which it cannot pass into law in its home nation.
That would mean that, while the law can continue to move through the Austrian parliamentary process, it cannot be enacted any earlier than November 4.
The standstill period could be extended, in particular if an EU member state issues an opinion on the law which the European Commission needs to consider.
In the past, Malta has very frequently issued comments on changes to other nation’s gambling laws and there is every reason to believe that it will do so this time.
Austria has been proceeding with the expectation that its law would be in effect by January 1 of next year, which is the date on which its cooling off rules begin to apply.
Austrian legal expert Christian Rapani said that this time crunch “merits attention”.
“The obligation to cease operations as of 1 January 2027 falls due at a time when the law may not yet have been adopted at the current timeframe,” and this could cause complications, he noted.
Regulations revealed
In the explanatory notes accompanying its submission to the EU, the Austrian government says that if it does not press forward with plans to open up its online casino sector, the country will continue to support a growing illegal market.
Once those operators willing to submit to Austrian regulations enter the new market, the Finance Ministry says it will deploy an enhanced suite of enforcement tools to combat the remaining black market.
These include “payment blocking, blacklisting, and network blocking”, the government said.
If it were to remain one of the few closed online casino markets in Europe, Austrian officials say they fear that a review of its gambling laws by the bloc’s highest court could find it wanting.
“Maintaining the current provisions on enforcement against unauthorized gambling unchanged could potentially have adverse effects during the dynamic review of the EU law coherence of the Austrian gambling monopoly to be carried out by the Court of Justice of the European Union,” they said.
Planned player protection within the licensed market includes a self-exclusion register that will allow gamblers to exclude themselves from specific products.
The government also says it will create a digital system to enforce a market-wide deposit limit, with lower limits set for those aged 18-25.
A default monthly limit of €250 is planned for those under 26, while other adults will be limited to €1,680 per month.
Anyone over the age of 23 can have that limit increased, according to the draft law, so long as they are not at risk of gambling harm and agree to the use of additional controls such as behavioural monitoring.
The Austrian government has told the EU that it expects to protect around 1,000,000 of its citizens who are currently at greater risk of suffering gambling-related harm.
Debts repaid
One major stumbling block for some operators looking to return to Austria, this time with a licence, is that they must agree to pay all outstanding tax bills and player refund judgements.
The Ministry of Finance has said that it will only grant approvals to companies that pay up any taxes they are considered to owe on previous gambling activity by Austrian residents.
They must also pay out any pending player refund judgements.
These cases have enabled many players to argue before courts that they are owed all gambling losses from playing with operators that didn’t have an Austrian licence.
The presence of Bill 55 in Malta has shielded many of those companies from enforcing those judgments, but any company with ambitions to enter the regulated Austrian market will have to willingly pay up.
“This will ensure justice for approximately 20,000 aggrieved players in Austria,” the Finance Ministry said.
