Discussions on gambling in Europe took place at a conference held in Brussels on 19th Feb. The key theme of the discussions was a critical aspect of the gambling industry – responsible gambling. The European trading body, EGBA (European Gaming and Betting Association) is holding the day as Responsible Gaming Day. The European Parliament is yet to draft a report on online gambling. The very fact was expected to pull eminent professionals of the industry as well as stakeholders to the event.

eCOGRA Attends the Event

Committed to protecting players' rights, eCOGRA was also a part of the event. The CEO of the regulating body, Andrew Beveridge, is one of the experts who was expected to participate in the discussions. Beveridge chaired a recent workshop focused on measures to be adopted for responsible gambling.

The current interest among players, operators and regulators of the gambling industry is the development of common gaming standards. The CEN Workshop held, was a success in this regard. It had about 30 participants including those belonging to trade associations, academic experts regulating gambling behavior and operators of online gambling platforms.

Beveridge stated that, prominent software providers and operators of the industry including members of eCOGRA and EGBA have voted in favor of implementing the CEN developed gambling measures. These seek to protect players' rights and promote responsible gambling for games like online roulette. Based on the feedback given by players, the recently developed measures seem to be highly effective.

bwin.party – First to Adopt the CWA 16259:2025 Measures

bwin.party is among the first few operators to have adopted the CWA 16259:2025 measures. The gaming room urges all state owned as well as private operators of the industry to adopt the measures to make sure that responsible gambling is practiced on their sites. If audited properly, the measures will ensure the prevalence of a safe gambling environment, said Joachim Haeusler, bwin.party Digital Entertainment's Responsible Gaming Manager.

Common Gaming Standards can Enhance Player Protection

As stated by Malcolm Harbour MEP, the chairperson of Europe's consumer protection committee and the Parliament of internal market, the report recently developed on online gambling shows that there is a clear preference for the adoption of common gaming standards for player protection at EU level. He also stated that the entire initiative is a positive step towards the establishment of a single market regulation for safe and responsible gambling. It will benefit not only the stakeholders but also the industry as a whole.

Professor of Technische Universität Supports the Measures for Being Apt to Protect Vulnerable Gamblers

Professor of Dresden's Technische Universität, Dr. Gerhard Bühringe, rightly said that CWA 16259:2025 measures developed, form a significant step towards protecting vulnerable gamblers. The professor, who is associated with the Addiction Research department of the university, also said that formulating common gaming standards will also help prevent underage gambling. He added that, in addition to independent audits, a scientific discussion should be carried out to determine how far the measures are beneficial for the present gambling scenario. Such discussions will pave the way for further developments on the aspect, according to Bühringe.