Intervju i Betsson Newsletter angående det svenska spelmonopolet
His name is Christofer Fjellner. He represents
the The Moderate Party of Sweden in the European Parliament. He was elected in June of 2004 and is now Swedens youngest member of the EU-parliament. We have seen him harshly criticize the way the Swedish State handles the gaming monopoly matter. His criticism consist of questions about the conflicting Swedish gambling regulation as well as their statements made that the monopoly exist because of social protection and not because of the revenues. Therefore, he is obviously of great importance for us at the Betsson Company. I contacted Fjellner and asked him to answer a few questions about whats going on in the politics.Hi Christofer! How are You doing today?
Hi! I´m doing very well! And when I heard that the EU-commission has decided to question the Swedish monopoly of poker it made me feel even better.
You made a speech at the conference Legal
gaming in Europe the other week in London. One of Your statements was that the conditions for private gaming companies in Europe are getting worse before they are getting better. What exactly did you mean by that?
Many countries try to save their monopoly from EU´s inspection by reviewing their own legislation. Even if some of them are opening parts of their market, it also seems as though they endeavor to close others, for example by blocking websites and bank transactions. This is hardly long lasting or consistent with EG´s court. But unfortunately it could be reality and thus an obstacle to European gaming companies, who actually should have legal right to offer their services to other EU countries.
Great Britain for example has a gambling regulation that gives the private gaming companies a competitive market, but at the same time very strict rules for marketing.
Do you think that such an arrangement would be suitable for Sweden?
Yes, I think it would be a good solution for Sweden. Through all the possibilities given to the players by Internet, Swedish politicians
have to realize that Svenska Spel is not the only player on the Swedish gaming market.
A system, similar to the one in Great Britain, would sharpen the competition further
and give the consumers better offers and better service. Like Great Britain we have to refine the role of the government. The government cannot make the rules, be the biggest actor and at the same time supervise
the gaming market. The confusion between these roles causes the hypocrisy that exists in the Swedish gaming politics.
The Government in Sweden spends 30 times more money on gambling advertising and public affairs than on preventing gambling
addiction. Yet they claim that the monopoly
exists for social reasons. How can spokesmen for the law defend this? Is there a debate going on?
Unfortunately there is no real debate going
on in that matter. EU has questioned this but it seems as if it has not lead to any deeper scrutinizes in Sweden. The Swedish government completely trusts the information given by Svenska Spel about their marketing, but it is obvious that Svenska Spel spend more money on advertisement than they admit.
The argument of socials issues is the only argument that could save the Swedish monopoly
at an EG-legal trial and therefore they hold on to that, regardless how lame it sounds. The fact is that Sweden has a much weaker health protection in their legal provision than other countries with a competitive market, for example Great Britain, where they have much stronger rules for advertisement. Sweden has an unregulated monopoly market although we should have a strict regulated but yet competitive market.
What are You personally going to do to abolish the gambling monopoly?
I will continue to work in the European parliament in this matter hoping that we will get rid of the gaming monopoly through pressure
on the EU commission as well as on the Swedish government and parliament. Im also thinking about more funny and spectacular activities to put focus on the hypocrisy in the gaming politics. Hopefully you will all hear about them later on.
When will the monopoly in Sweden come to an end?
Its hard to tell. Unfortunately I think its necessary with a settlement from EG legal court before Swedish politicians learn from the entitled criticism. But who knows, with increasing pressure maybe the government will wake up and realize the unreasonable in the gaming politics today.
Anette Lidgren, Betsson Newsletter # 2
