The tone has been set in The Hague, the Netherlands. While Belgium is openly investigating and tightening ties between politics and the gambling industry, the Netherlands is lagging behind. MP Mirjam Bikker received zero response when she asked for a plenary debate on contacts between the government and the gambling sector.
At issue were almost 1,900 documents full of communications between officials, ministers and gambling industry representatives. In Belgium, this would be grounds for parliamentary scrutiny. In the Netherlands? The House rejected the request.
Belgium pushes ahead, the Netherlands hesitates
The Belgian government recently introduced a ban on gambling advertising and is working towards stricter regulation of online gambling. That sentiment seems to be gaining less ground in The Hague.
Released Dutch documents show how former minister Sander Dekker had intensive contact with the gambling sector in the run-up to the legalisation of online gambling. Officials spoke among themselves of the finance ministry as a ‘lobbying club of state enterprises.’ Such statements raise eyebrows in Belgium. There, official contacts with the sector are subject to stricter rules.
MP continues to insist
Mirjam Bikker, ChristenUnie, said at a procedural meeting that she was ‘shocked’ by the content of the documents. According to her, an open debate is the only way to take political responsibility. However, she did not get a majority along for a plenary discussion. Instead, the issue might be taken up in a committee meeting.
Bikker did not give in. She requested a 30-member debate, a tool by which a minority can still put an issue on the agenda.
‘I will continue to highlight what has appeared,’ she said.
Two countries, two speeds
In Belgium, the Gaming Commission is cracking down on illegal gambling providers. The blacklist is growing, and players are actively warned. Dutch regulators are also taking action, but the political debate on this is more convoluted. Biker’s attempt to force openness stranded, despite the size of the documents.
While Belgium continues to reform, the Netherlands is caught between interests, divisions and political austerity. If you compare the two countries, you see mainly a difference in political will.