Участник:Portugal's ragged economy due to the 2010-2014 financial crisis.
The national government officially introduced a new gambling law that would allow foreign casino operators to apply for licenses to the country's gambling regulator, SRIJ (Servicão de Regularacão de Jogos). Many foreign casino operators were anxiously waiting for market regulations in Portugal. Once the long-awaited legislation that will serve as a lifeboat for the country's real economy has come into effect, many of their highly taxed foreign operators are backing up their high taxes, for reasons newly imposed for their good intentions.
Economic problems in Portugal It is no secret that Portugal has faced a number of economic problems in recent years. Portugal's Great Depression led to a deep economic crisis in which sovereign debt could not be repaid without help elsewhere. To prevent this debt crisis, Portugal has applied for financial aid. In 2014, the EU Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund had to rescue Portugal's sluggish economy and find a solution for national officials to the excessive debt level of 79 billion euros.
As a result, state officials needed to discuss and explore ways to solve the difficulties. Of all those proposals, the gambling industry witnessed a similar scenario, and news about the market's regulatory potential came as no surprise. On the other hand, this would break the chain of Portuguese lottery monopolies (also known as Santa Casa de la Misordia) and allow serious competition in the market.
Lawmakers worked on new legislation aimed at regulating the gambling market for foreign operators, and many foreign online gambling companies waited nervously in front of the Portuguese gate, expressing their willingness to enter the market, but lawmakers decided to make the most of it and over-pressured the industry before it actually opened.
Their "get rich quickly and rest for many" approach scared many casino operators who decided to pull out of their plans to enter the Portuguese market.