Liberalisation: yes or no?

ACLEU members believe that NGOs in every EU Member State should be enabled to use (national) charity lotteries as a fundraising tool. If an EU directive could facilitate this and -as a consequence- more money is raised for charitable organisations throughout the EU by means of charity lotteries, then ACLEU will of course support future EU legislation and therefore liberalisation of lotteries, and games of chance in general.

ACLEU endorses liberalisation of games of chance in the EU under the condition that:

• Liberalisation takes place in all Member States at the same time
• Charity lotteries are not discriminated with regard to other (state) lotteries, i.e. a level playing field is ensured
• A special status for the category ‘charity lotteries’ is created in future EU legislation to protect the income of the benefiting NGOs.

The latter point means that charity lotteries enjoy benefits that other (commercial) operators do not, i.e. positive discrimination because of their contribution to society.

In order for such a status to be created, the model of charity lottery and its benefits for civil society must be known throughout the EU and the characteristics of a charity lottery must be clearly defined.

ACLEU calls upon European politicians and policymakers to support this effective type of fundraising for charities in all EU Member States.