Slovenian Lawmakers Vote to Liberalise Sports Betting Market

Slovenia's National Assembly has voted in favour of legislation to open the country's sports betting market to private and overseas operators.

Lawmakers in the National Assembly voted 35-26 in favour of the gambling amendment bill, which is designed to strengthen consumer protections and ensure that foreign online betting providers are taxed and regulated.

Under Slovenia's existing gambling legislation, lottery, bingo and sports betting are monopoly activities reserved for state-owned or state-controlled companies registered in the Republic of Slovenia.

The new bill removes the ownership and domestic establishment requirements by allowing operators from any European Union member state to apply for a licence, eliminating one of the provisions of the previous law which had been found incompatible with EU law by the European Commission and national courts.

The legislation was adopted despite government opposition, with the ministry of finance favouring a re-regulation of the entire gambling market, not just sports betting. The Slovenian government had previously taken steps to address this with a comprehensive gambling reform bill, which was submitted to the European Commission for approval in March 2016. However, no further progress was made on the bill.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's vote, secretary of...