European Casino Association Led by Per Jaldung
Per Jaldung is CEO at Casino Cosmopol AB and Chairman at European Casino Association and ever since he took the mantle of leading the association the years had been a challenge for Per. While the gaming rules have not changed in Sweden, the rest of Europe has experienced a sea of changes, both online and offline. Per Jaldung wants to explain how the regulatory changes were more effective for the land-based gaming meanwhile the online counterparts are beyond his reach. At ICE London 2020 Per Jaldung had talked with Global Gaming Business publisher, Roger Gros about online gaming and European competition.
About the European Casino Association
The European Casino Association has been around for 15 years and it started as a network of casino operators that eventually has developed into a more professional trade organisation. Year by year, a few European countries have joined the association making it up to a total of 30 European countries. The association has more countries than the European Union itself. Besides, they are all united in the common interest of the land-based casino industry and the regulations regarding it. When it comes to European Casino Association, here members of the board speak for about 1000 European casinos.
The casino industry in Europe isn’t only at the local level where regulators work with it, it is also on the pan-European level, where there are different opinions about regulations. There are parts of the industry, for example, the online one where it wants to have a harmonization and a European licensing system. In this way, an online casino, similar to Admiral Casino, can operate across all countries.
However, the real decision stands within the European Union, where it says that each country has the right to regulate and make laws about casinos on the national level. And that principle is defended by ECA (European Casino Association). They want each country to manage its own casinos, depending on culture, history and relations to it. However, there is a part of the European industry where there are many different parts. For example, the ECA represents the land-based gaming but there is also an online industry that is a very big part of the iGaming industry. The industry people are wondering if there is a chance for everybody to get together and speak with the same voice?
Per Jaldung said that the online and offline industry have the same voice on some subjects. The ECA is open to speaking with everyone and debating with everyone. They don’t need to agree on everything but in some areas, certainly, forces can be joined. The same is when it comes to responsibility, everyone is on the same page. The land-based industry goes 100 years back so there is plenty of experience in this field. There are also land-based companies that in other parts of industry they do a tremendous job in this area.
However, out there there are some examples where working hard isn’t enough. There is a lot of window-dressing and whitewashing, but regulators, media and others can see through this. In addition, The American Gaming Association has reached out to mention the good news about the industry, like jobs created, community involvement and others. It seems that the European counterpart has done the same. Per Jaldung believes that the regulated and licensed land-based gaming has done a good job in creating value in society. So in the end, a lot of times the casinos have helped the community in the economic motor.
Besides, in the UK, the ECA is happy to consult regulators, lawmakers and others. They also do this in a lot of different cases. The ECA is involved in a lot of policy work, in the EU institutions with good contacts. Per Jaldung feels that they are listening to their voice. The ECA doesn’t fight the regulations in any way, they need regulations. They are happy to work with anyone that has a licence, for the good of the industry.
