Coalition parties PVV and VVD pushing for privatization of national lottery

Coalition parties PVV and VVD are not happy with the fact that the Cabinet wants to keep the Nederlandse Lotterij in government hands. The State Secretary for Finance, Tjebbe van Oostenbruggen, said last week that privatization is not achievable at this point in time, a decision that raises “a lot of questions,” according to the parties.

“The government should not be a supplier of gambling,” said PVV MP Henk de Vree during a parliamentary debate on Thursday. This is also the opinion of VVD member Aukje de Vries, who criticized the position of the state secretary on this subject.

“I do not know why we want control of a lottery, and I also do not know how any sane person could explain that,” she said about the state secretary's policy. His political party, NSC, is also in the four-party coalition along with the BBB>

Van Oostenbruggen mentioned the increase in gambling addicts since online gambling has been legal under certain conditions. This is the reason that the Cabinet is reluctant to allow a larger share of gambling to fall under commercial control. The Nederlandse Loterij also owns other gambling products, including the Staatsloterij and Lotto lotteries, and sports betting site Toto.

A state-owned lottery will be less inclined to push the boundaries of what is permissible, Van Oostenbruggen said during the debate. De Vries was unconvinced by the argument.

She pointed out that there were debates surrounding Toto’s use of former footballers in their commercials until this was formally banned three years ago. The VVD MP also added that the Nederlandse Loterij is also not always “the nicest boy in the class.”

The state secretary mentioned that work is currently being done on stricter rules for gambling providers. He would find it uncomfortable if the government first sold off a gambling conglomerate, and then undermined its profitability with new legislation. That raises the question of whether you are acting in good faith as a seller, he said.