Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Teun Struycken stated that the government is developing updated gambling policies and plans to submit them to the House of Representatives in March next year.
Struycken made the remarks in response to questions from House member Michiel van Nispen. He was asked about issues related to physical gambling, including whether the current policies are appropriate.
Van Nispen stated that the existing Remote Gambling Act has led to fierce competition in the Dutch online market. He said that this, in turn, has created "poor economic incentives" within the industry.
However, Van Nispen noted that there is no competition in the physical casino market due to the monopoly held by Dutch casinos. Therefore, he questioned whether more licensed operators should be allowed into the industry.
Struycken is developing policies to address this issue, as the current laws are based on a policy established in 2011. He mentioned that this might include measures related to competition with land-based sectors.
"By March 2025, I will submit a vision on the future development and objectives of gambling policy," Struycken said. "This will include consideration of market competition."
Can the government give up Dutch casinos?
Van Nispen also questioned the role of the state government in Dutch casinos. Dutch casinos are owned by the state government, but Struycken cited an assessment from last May, which concluded that it was "not necessary."
Struycken stated that giving up control would result in a loss of revenue for the state government and also lose control over measures to address gambling-related harms. However, he did not rule out the possibility of the state government exiting and opening up the market.
He said: "The assessment also found that the added value of equity was not high enough, so the possibility of further exploring other future options will be ruled out in advance."
Struycken also acknowledged that the government is in talks with Dutch casinos to increase gambling taxes. A stern report warned that raising gambling taxes would cause significant losses to online operators and could force Dutch casinos to close branches or stop their online services.
"The Secretary of State for Taxation and the Tax and Customs Administration plan to inform the House of Representatives about the development of Dutch casinos before the summer of 2025," Struycken said.
More distinctions between online and physical gambling
In this regard, Van Nispen raised questions about the clarity of the new policy. He asked whether the new policy would clearly distinguish between online and physical gambling.
Struycken stated that the new policy would indeed do this, and noted that it is very important to clearly differentiate when addressing the harms and risks associated with each type of gambling.
"I will respond to questions about how to further distinguish different gambling games," Struycken said. "One important aspect is that certain types of gambling games may lead to addiction or other gambling-related harms."
He added: "I will discuss this in a letter to the House of Representatives on March 27, outlining my views on this policy and the areas I think need to be amended. Adjustments related to the online gambling market are my top priority."
