The first reading of the gambling bill in the Finnish Parliament shed light on the reasons for the delay in its implementation: the Licensing and Supervision Agency does not have enough staff to meet the planned schedule.

In its report, the Administrative Committee recommended postponing the launch of the commercially licensed gambling market by six months — until 1 July 2027.

The issue of the delay was discussed at a recent plenary session of Parliament, as the market was originally scheduled to launch on 1 January 2027. During the debate, Tuomas Kettunen of the Centre Party asked Sinuhe Wallinheimo of the Coalition Party whether the postponement was linked to pre-election political considerations.

The delay coincides with preparations for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2027. Against the backdrop of industry reforms, gambling regulation and advertising issues are expected to become key topics in the pre-election agenda.

“Representative Wallinheimo, was this finally a matter of the fact that the postponement of the Gambling Act was a purely political consideration on the part of the Coalition Party?” stated Kettunen.

“Was it a matter of political consideration? Namely, nowhere has it been mentioned that the gambling reform could come into force as the government originally proposed, i.e. at the beginning of 2027. 

“In other words, was this a matter of some kind of election politicking, that the Coalition Party did not want this advertising rally to start on 1 January 2027, because the parliamentary elections will be held on 18 April 2027?”

According to Kettunen, the Coalition Party was concerned that after the launch of the licensed gambling market, the industry’s advertising activity could overshadow its own election campaigns, which is why the party sought to postpone the implementation of the reform until after the elections.

“This advertising rally will only start a couple of months after the parliamentary elections. What was the Coalition Party worried about in this matter? 

“Was it that the Coalition Party would not receive its election advertisements, when so many advertisements from gaming companies are appearing in the newspapers? Or was it that there was a bit of concern that if these disadvantages start to occur, what kind of impact will this have on the election result of the National Coalition Party?”

Agency Responsibilities

Responding to criticism, Wallinheimo noted that the delay is due to a shortage of staff needed to carry out regulatory tasks on the licensed commercial gambling market, as well as the fact that the Licensing and Supervision Agency is still in its early stages of development.

According to Wallinheimo: “The permits for the first year, 2026, are indeed taken in by the National Police Board, and from the beginning of 2027 this would have then gone under the supervision of the licensing and supervision authorities. Such an organisation, Representative Kettunen, does not exist. 

“We have no information about what type of people will be working there in the future, and on the same day they would have been given this huge task. It is simply not possible. That is why, first of all, since the Licensing and Supervision Authority does not exist, we are now wondering whether there are perhaps such people in the police administration who could transfer there, but even there are only a handful of people. 

“The Licensing and Supervision Authority needs dozens of people to carry out this supervision. Such an organisation, Representative Kettunen, does not exist before 2027. That is why it made sense to take a six-month break here, so that people can genuinely get to work there and they know what they are supervising, after which they can then do their job properly.”

Stakeholders are hoping for the prompt establishment and operation of the relevant agency, but the delay in implementing the reform has already become evident.

Source

#FinlandGambling #GamblingRegulation #iGaming #ResponsibleGaming #MarketLaunch #GamingLaw #NordicGaming