Hello and welcome to the GamblingCompliance podcast as private online gambling operators hope the autumn chill will herald movement in those formal infringement proceedings seemingly stalled at the European Commission in Brussels.

Perhaps the most intensive lobbying activity has focused on infringement investigations into Sweden’s and Denmark’s gambling monopolies, which the Commission itself admits have been completed and are now awaiting referral to the European Court of Justice.

They may prove to be open and shut cases for the court. Commission officials publically said earlier this summer that there has been little attempt to amend national laws applied to sports betting in either country ever since infringement proceedings began in April 2006.

The same cannot be said elsewhere in Europe, however, where national governments have proposed legislative reforms of varying degrees in attempts to draw a line under the European Commission’s investigations.

Over recent months GamblingCompliance podcasts have already examined France’s avowed  intention to introduce some kind of licensing regime for online operators – further plans for which could even be announced this month.

And Greece was another European Union Member State seeking to make its peace with officials in Brussels this week, as the government unveiled plans to change the way monopoly gambling operator OPAP distributed and marketed its products in the country.

But for the most frenzied activity, the industry need not deviate its attention away from Scandinavia where officials’ attempts to introduce wholescale gambling reform in Finland are heating up as the harsh Finnish winter approaches.

An official report on a first set of proposed amendments to Finland’s Lotteries Act was debated by politicians in Helsinki last week, with a second and final report due to be unveiled before the end of the year.

The report scrutinized last week, not surprisingly, recommended raising the legal gambling age in the country to 18, as well as introducing stricter regulations for the advertising of gambling services in Finland, with new powers of enforcement for the authorities.

The initial report also highlighted key issues that will be covered in the forthcoming study, including the possibility of creating a licensing regime for new types of gambling activities or alternative measures to forcibly prohibit internet gambling. It will also consider authorizing new games including online poker.

Finland, alongside Denmark, was one of the first EU states to be threatened with an ECJ referral by the Commission – but the Commission is now believed to be waiting to assess Finland’s finalized reform proposals before reassessing the Finnish infringement case.

Political figures and industry stakeholders discussed the second report’s likely findings at a recent seminar in the Finnish capital and next week problem gambling experts will join more government officials on the Highway to Helsinki for a second conference to scrutinize what a liberalization of the Finnish gambling market could mean  from a social and public health perspective.

On a more international note, private operators seeking a liberalization of cross-border internet gambling within the EU will reset their eyes firmly on Brussels as the regular meetings of European Commissioners recommence after the summer break.

They will be hoping for news on Denmark and Sweden in particular, but the intensity of debate in Finland at present means they can expect a Scandinavian ECJ referral to resonate strongest closest to home.