The Netherlands Online Gambling Association has welcomed plans from a Dutch politician to present a reworked gambling bill for the country.

State secretary for legal protection, Teun Struycken announced the wide-ranging proposals last week.

They include raising the minimum age to play online slots to 21 and giving the gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) more powers to target illegal operators.

NOGA acting director Erik Konings said: “The members of NOGA stand for a safe and responsible gambling offer. That is why we support the idea of no longer focusing solely on addiction prevention in the gambling policy, but to strive for the prevention of gambling-related harm. Gambling should be a source of entertainment, not a source of problems.

“We are also pleased to hear that combating illegal supply is given greater priority. We have been expressing our concern about the size of the illegal market for some time now, and the figures published today [Monday, February 17] by the Gaming Authority [KSA] show that of every euro gambled in the Netherlands, half is now wagered with illegal providers. The regulator indicates that it needs more resources to take a stand against this, and we hope that they will get them.

“A number of policy proposals of the Cabinet, such as raising the minimum age to 21, could further increase the flight towards the illegal market that is currently taking place. However, we will await the further elaboration of this before we can give a detailed response.

“Finally, we fully endorse the view of this Cabinet that the protection of citizens is a shared responsibility of all parties that can influence that protection. We will therefore continue to make every effort to arrive at an attractive, safe and responsible gambling offer in cooperation with all parties involved.”