Report On Suggested Rules For Marketing Requested

Anders Borg, Sweden's finance minister and his colleague Maria Larsson, the Public Health minister are using the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet to argue for an end to the highly aggressive marketing in the country's gambling industry which is dominated by the highly successful government monopoly Svenske Spel.

Borg has stated that a new report is to be ordered into rules governing the Swedish gambling market, an area that is already being eyed by the European Commission as non-compliant with the EU principles of free movement of trade and services.

Writing in the paper, Borg and Larsson expressed their concern for the social implications of gambling, saying: “Gambling addiction is on a par with alcoholism: an addictive behavior that is very difficult to break.”

Tomas Tobe, a spokesman for the Moderate Party in the Swedish Parliament who has been calling for an end to the monopoly and a more open market said that although he regarded the enquiry as positive progress, it did not go far enough. In a statement he said: “This proposal will do very little to appease the EU Commission and Sweden can soon expect a summons to the European Court of Justice and a subsequent conviction.”

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