What�s Up with the EU?

March 14, 2009

There are a lot of people understandably confused by the recent events surrounding the European Union. When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, was originally passed, there was talk that the EU and Antigua would fight it since they had the most to gain from it. They were hoping that pressure from those two sources would get the United States government to crumble and they would see the UIGEA overturned.

However, Antigua continued to fight and got a settlement deal out of it, although the US still has not paid it. No one expected the tiny country to win, never mind overturn the law, so anything they got out of it was a surprise However, the EU was a much bigger force to be reckoned with, and many thought that they had the power and influence to change policy.

But in the end the EU seemed to back of the online gambling ban. They settled or an amount that was undisclosed, and then sort of faded into the woodwork. People did not want to see a settlement, they wanted to see online gambling legalized, so for the EU to go down that road there were a lot of disappointed fans. A compensation agreement was the last thing they wanted.

The fact that no one is happy in the US speaks volumes. There are those that say we have no right to renege on trade agreements, and there are those that wanted online gambling legalized, and there are those that thought we should have told them all where to go and did whatever we wanted. It seems that the US and the EU have disappointed just about everyone.

 

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