Existing frameworks for how trade is facilitated between countries in this sector

The arrangements described in this section are examples of existing arrangements between countries. They should not be taken to represent the options being considered by the Government for the future economic relationship between the UK and the EU. The Government has been clear that it is seeking pragmatic and innovative solutions to issues related to the future deep and special partnership that we want with the EU.

Gambling and betting services

The baseline for trade in services is the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). All WTO Members are parties to GATS which sets out general rules, principles and obligations as a framework for trade in services;plus a schedule of commitments which set out how open and non-discriminatory parties commit to be across the service sectors covered.

The gambling and betting services sector is covered by GATS. Legally committed market access for UK gambling operators is therefore dependent on the specific commitments listed in their GATS schedules by WTO Members. In practice, gambling laws and markets can be very different, with some countries restricting or prohibiting certain types of gambling.

All of the EU’s existing EU trade deals, and those currently under development, look to build on the GATS baseline by expanding the commitments of EU Member States to open up their services markets to each other. The most ambitious of these is the EUCanada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Gambling and betting are reserved in principle in the CETA, allowing certain Canadian provinces and territories to ‘adopt or maintain a measure limiting market access’ and EU Member States (with the exception of Malta) to ‘maintain any measure with respect to the supply of gambling
activities’.

Horseracing

Movement of horses between states for racing events is possible between states outside of the EU. The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), the international governing body of equestrian sports, has developed a non-binding framework with the objective of harmonising the conditions for the international movement of high- 25 The UK is a member of the WTO in its own right, but its current commitments are listed in wider EU schedules.

Data

Underpinning the functioning of the online gambling sector is the ability to collect, share and process personal data. As a member of the EU, in the UK this is made possible by the EU framework for personal data.

Directive 95/46/EC on the processing of personal data establishes EU rules for the use and transfer of personal data both within the EEA and between Member States and the rest of the world. From the 25th May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) will replace this Directive as the EU standard on general data processing.

The EU data protection framework includes provisions allowing the Commission to give a third country ‘adequacy’ having assessed that the third country’s data protection framework is ‘essentially equivalent’, which allows personal data to flow freely between the EEA and those third countries. Further detail on issues related to data is set out in the future partnership paper on the exchange and protection of personal data.