In Belgium, by royal decree, it had been introduced the obligation for gaming service providers to control, before allowing access to games, if players are excluded with the EPIS system and to maintain a log of access.
By order dated 17/01/2023, the Court of First Instance of Namur, sitting in summary proceedings, had established “that the Belgian State could no longer carry out checks on the basis of the 'present' regulation (Editor's note: Royal Decree of 20/03/2022 and articles 40 and 41 of the law of 30/07/2022), which could have been rightly criticized, and not to impose sanctions on them, 24 hours after notification of this order and under penalty of a fine of EUR 3.500 per violation - with a maximum of EUR 50.000 - and per appellant".
This judicial decision was reformed by the Court of Appeal of Liège with ruling dated 24/10/2023, therefore EPIS checks must also be carried out in betting shops.
From 1/12/2023 the Control Service of the Gaming Commission (GC) will monitor the correct application of this obligation through random checks in the field.
In the event that it is ascertained that the people present in a betting office have not been checked in EPIS, an official report will be drawn up and a sanctioning procedure will be initiated immediately. On the other hand, the provisions relating to keeping and signing the register, taking photographs and copying the identity card are not considered a priority by the inspection service. These provisions are subject to review, following the approval by the Council of Ministers on 29/09/2023 of a preliminary draft law to adapt the EPIS regulations to the GDPR rules.
