US Responce to the Online Gambling Ban Claim by EU

The European Union has been contesting a number of trade areas with the United States for the last number of years. As the United States released their brief and offer to Antigua regarding the Gambling Ban (knows as the UIGEA), they also made an offer to the European Union.

Instead of offering fiscal recompense, the United States has chosen to offer to open up opportunities in the storages, warehouse services and technical testing trade sectors. The offer is intended to repay the claim the EU has against the United States through the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the ban.

The gaming groups in the EU are losing an estimated 4 billion a year since the US withdrawal and ban enactment. Opening these sectors of trade is not anticipated to accurately compensate the countries in the EU for the revenue lost. EU gambling groups are lobbing against the proposal.

At this time, the United States and the European Union have chosen to extend this discussion for an additional 30 days. This will enable the EU to review the proposal and possible responses. An additional thought for the EU is the fact that this proposal will be offered as part of the Doha Round of World Trade talks within the WTO, apart from the claimed gambling issue.