The European Commission (EC) no longer gives a damn if European Union member states retain or enact protectionist measures regarding online gambling.

Last month, the EC sent letters to online gambling trade associations and other stakeholders, warning them of the EC’s plan to drop all current infringement procedures against protectionist EU online gambling markets, and to shun handling of future complaints on this subject.

On Thursday, the EC publicly confirmed its new disinterest in gambling matters, saying the EC had a “political commitment to be more strategic in enforcing EU law,” and thus it was “not a priority for the Commission to use its infringement powers to promote an EU Single Market in the area of online gambling services.”

The EC noted that it had already issued numerous rulings regarding EU-licensed online gambling operators’ right to access customers in other EU member states. As such, the EC has faith that gambling complaints “can be handled more efficiently by national courts” on the basis of these earlier judgments.