The last in line for government support and concessions
Insight SPAIN Post-Covid 19
Eduardo Antoja, Honorary President EUROMAT
Te European Gaming and Amusement Federation (EUROMAT) is the voice of land-based gaming entertainment industry in Europe and represents, through affiliated national associations, private sector operators of gaming machines and the manufacturers that supply them. Honourary President, Eduardo Antoja, gives his accessment of the impact of Covid-19 on the gaming sector
“While gaming and all land-based leisure activities are in the freezer with very uncertain prospects, there are other sectors that do not suffer, but rather take advantage of the health crisis. Zoom, Amazon, masks manufacturers and the Internet commerce in general, are benefiting significantly. Tis leads me to a positive thought: not everything is sunk, and we will be afloat again. Spring will come back, though we do not know when.
Now, our most important problem, which I perceive in each of the virtual Euromat meetings, is that we continue to be a sector quite misunderstood by politicians and opinion leaders. Not only in Spain, also throughout Europe.
In the UK, in the Netherlands, the European Commission itself, we are considered to be part of the tourism sector, but it happens that most of the grants and help measures are difficult to apply in practice to our industry; while most of the EU state governments announced that they put us the last in the line for being back to life when this nightmare is over. Even worse, they try to sell us as “supports” what are nothing more than our rights derived from the legislative measures adopted to alleviate the situation. In this sense, Spain is not an exception. It is obvious that taxes cannot be earned for an activity that the law does not allow; but not all the governments have recognised it yet. And it is even more obvious that all concessions to other leisure industries must be extended to the gaming sector.
In this sense, we would like to see the media more aligned with the industry and its associations in this endeavour, and that they stop praising short-term initiatives that, while necessary, contribute little or nothing to solve our most pressing problems. Let us not forget that the Covid-19 crisis has hit a sector at a
time when, throughout Europe, it was in a clear situation of instability, caused by social agents that invented a non-existent ‘social alarm’, missing the target by ignorance and disinformation. And that rebuilding a situation of unstable equilibrium is extremely difficult, if not impossible, especially in a new framework of health concern.
We must think about the day after, for which there is no pill, and that is in need of ideas and projects right now. Projects that preserve the interests of all the members of the industry and, especially, of the clients, the players, and apply the best practices from other countries and sectors.
Tis is where the true solidarity of the entire gaming world, of which politicians and regulators are also an important part, must be demonstrated. Te service we provide - because no one can doubt that gaming is a service that the society demands - will cost us more money and effort, to implement new preventive measures; this requires a ‘new order’ based on realism and mutual understanding.
In the terrible trance of Covid-19, it is true that there was practically no capacity for anticipation, but then there was a lack of quick and effective reactions from the governments, perhaps partly due to ignorance. How can we ensure that the same does not happen with the measures to be adopted for the day and the months after?
Te gaming industry has a proven track record for social responsibility; and it will stay on that track when we resume our activity; we will continue to work responsibly. But we need to be heard, understood, respected and supported to create the new order. Our proven contribution to society deserves it.”
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P39
We would like to see the media more aligned with the industry and its associations in this endeavour, and that they stop praising short- term initiatives that, while necessary, contribute little or nothing to solve our most pressing problems. Let us not forget that the Covid-19 crisis has hit a sector at a time when, throughout Europe, it was in a clear situation of instability, caused by social agents that invented a non-existent ‘social alarm’, missing the target by ignorance and disinformation.
We must think about the day after, for which there is no pill, and that is in need of ideas and projects right now. Projects that preserve the interests of all the members of the industry and, especially, of the clients, the players, and apply the best practices from other countries and sectors.
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