The European Union is committed to a policy of supply of goods and services across national borders without any discrimination. Pursuant to this policy the European Commission has been trying to create a unified regime of online gambling in the continent. Despite national differences the European Commission has been pressuring nations to implement legalization and regulation of online gambling. It was against this background that Belgium had submitted its draft proposal to the European Commission and the other member states on March 27, 2009.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has been in the forefront of facilitating the implementation of a unified online gambling regulatory system. It has examined the Belgian proposal for the regulation of online gambling and found it wanting. The major issue that has been objected to in the proposal is that it does not allow gambling operators from outside of Belgium to access the Belgian online gambling market.

Maarten Haijer, EGBA Director for Regulatory Affairs said, "The requirement for operators to be established in Belgium is one of the clearest violations of EC Treaty provisions.” Haijer added that accepting such a provision would immediately imply that online gambling operators outside Belgium are not effectively regulated and that they do not meet the conditions required of responsible operators. This is far from the truth. Several online gambling jurisdictions within the European Union have succeeded in creating "a well regulated and competitive online gaming and betting market at the same time” and have done this without sacrificing consumer protection.

Apart from the condition that the operators be established in Belgium, several other provisions of the draft proposal were found unacceptable. One was that the proposal wanted to impose a restriction on the number of licenses that could be issued. Another was that the services that the licensed gaming operators could provide would be restricted. The proposal even advocated criminal action against consumers who wished to play with European Union licensed operators from outside Belgium. In order to prevent Belgian players from accessing outside gaming operators the Belgian proposal suggests that Internet Service Providers could be instructed to block the web sites of such operators. Haijer reaction to this proposal was, "ISP blockings cannot impose territorial boundaries on the Internet. Experience shows that such restrictions are difficult to implement, easy to circumvent, inefficient and foster the growth of an underground market”

Belgium cannot adopt its draft legislation till July 30. It has to respond to the European Commission's objections. If Belgium goes ahead and adopts the proposal without addressing the objections it would immediately attract infringement proceedings. Earlier this month the draft proposal of France was also rejected on very similar grounds.