The European Lotteries (EL) promotes a sustainable and sound gaming model for the benefit of society, based on core lottery values - responsibility, society/sustainability, and integrity. EL advances the collective interests of its Members, the national lotteries operating games of chance for the public benefit. EL defends this model in the discussion on the societal, political, economic, and regulatory framework for gambling.
Strategic forum for reflection
EL is a proactive and strategic forum for reflection and discussion between its Members and a true laboratory for the design and implementation of the further development and architecture of the sustainable lottery model. EL provides its Members platforms for exchange, learning, data, and sound support.
Our core values
The identity of EL and its Members is defined by shared core values - responsibility, society/sustainability and integrity. EL believes in the overall benefit of (state-) licensed lotteries for society as a guiding principle to organise and to run a public lottery or other games of chance. EL and its Members wants to attract potential players to safe, legal offers in their respective countries. EL considers (and is limited by) the individual and societal cost of those legal operations, whether that be lotteries or gambling products. This differentiates EL Members clearly from gambling operators whose primary focus is on the benefits for their shareholders.
A strong principle-based regulatory framework
In the gambling sector, the stakeholders’ interests are different and not per se aligned. Players look for fun and the thrill of participating in games of chance. While the challenge for the operator is to meet the various demands, regulators are looking for a sustainable and legal gambling-sector with moderate and controlled offers, with overall net profits for society (profits minus social costs).
In this context, EL Members make the difference where it matters most compared to other operators: the values of EL Members have to be reflected by the states and regulators through a strong principle-based regulatory framework such as mandatory responsible-gaming, assurance of secure operations, corporate-governance-standards, legal exclusion of dangerous offers and last but not least taxes.
Appropriateness needs subsidiarity as an indispensable principle of regulation. EL therefore calls for strict, but appropriate regulation in this sensitive sector.
Our Strategy
Recognising the rapidly changing environment and the changing nature of the lottery sector, the EL Executive Committee is proposing a new sharper strategy for EL that seeks to address the opportunities and threats of the shifting context we are facing.
This strategy takes as its starting point a clear articulation of values and positioning, but accepts changes and differentiations and last but not least recognizes new technologies and changing consumer-behaviour not only as a threat but as a real opportunity.
Unity in Diversity
Only a ‘Unity in Diversity’-approach enables states as lottery-organisers to react to the relevant environment, which is mostly independently built from cultural differences and market characteristics. It is common understanding and indispensable rule for EL and its Members, that an operator in the sector of gaming and gambling requires a dedicated license in every single state/jurisdiction, its service is offered in.
Other regulatory principles are precaution, solidarity, and integrity, which express the vision of EL Members on the adequate regulatory framework for their activities and find their way to regulation through standards such as those for responsible gaming (precaution and solidarity), security and integrity covering transparency and corporate governance.
The primary interest of EL and its Members is proportionate, value-oriented regulation. But those proportionate rules are redundant without adequate law enforcement. They are undermined by illegal operations as long as there are no negative consequences for those illegal operators.
EL calls for coordinated best practices between regulators to push the fight against illegal gaming and gambling, and to show that new technologies are not just a path to undermine rules; they can and they should be used to enforce the regulation.