Five of the six Maltese MEPs voted against the resolution on online gambling, which the European Parliament approved during yesterday’s session in Strasbourg.

Reactions to to result of the voiting came from MEP Claudette Abela Baldacchino, member of the Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and MEP Roberta Metsola, IMCO substitute member.

MEP Abela Baldacchino said, “I voted against, as I did during the vote in the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, because the resolution does not take the solid regulatory framework laid down in Malta sufficiently into account. The resolution as it is does not facilitate further market access for the companies established in Malta; I therefore consider it not to be in the interest of the industry established in Malta and the thousands of jobs that it creates.”

MEP Metsola, on her part, said: “I voted against this report as it touches upon issues which are fundamental for Malta, the gaming industry and my constituents. The report contains a number of positive measures such as calls for protection of minors and for the European Commission to take enforcement action against those member states that are in breach of EU law. It also contains a proposal for the consideration of certain measures for player protection, such as self-exclusion mechanisms, which, for example, could take the form of an on-screen button that people can use to immediately end their gaming session if they feel the need to.

“However, the report makes a number of points which on balance I consider to be unacceptable. For example it proposes a joint definition of legal operators, which is incompatible with Maltese legislation. I also could not accept the call for national tax regimes for gambling services to be brought in line with one another; this should remain strictly a member state competence.”

MEP John Attard Montalto (S&D) was absent.

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