Norway.- Høyre, the Norwegian Conservative Party and the main opposition force in parliament, has announced that it is in favour of opening the Norwegian gambling market to competition. The party has adopted a policy to end the long-established state monopoly in the sector as part of its manifesto for the next general election in September 2025.

The move marks a change in policy for Høyre, which was the leading party in government in Norway from 2013 to 2021. During its last tenure in power, it was in favour of maintaining the monopolies of Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.

Norway is set to become the last country in Scandinavia with a state-controlled gambling monopoly once Finland opens a competitive gambling market in 2027. However, Høyre’s change in policy means that Norway could follow Finland and open a competitive licensed gambling market by 2028 if the party does well in the selections.

The policy has been promoted by party members Magnus Mæland, Ola Svenneby, Tage Pettersen and Anita Oterhals Eide. The manifesto pledge states that the party would “replace the current exclusive rights model with a licensed model to increase revenues for the state and greater opportunities to help those who are struggling with problem gambling”. It notes that investigation for the development of a regulatory framework would focus on the experiences of the country’s neighbours, Sweden, Denmark and now Finland.

Today Høyre is the second biggest party in Norway’s parliament occupying 36 out of 169 seats. It received 20.6 per cent of the votes in the 2021 general election, the result of which led to a minority coalition government formed by Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labour Party with the Centre Party. The coalition requires the support of the Socialist Left Party for a majority. The next general election is scheduled for September 8, 2025.

European industry groups, including the EGBA, have long called for Norway and Iceland to end their monopoly gambling systems and to introduce regulated competition.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian gambling regulator Lottstift warned social media platforms that it intended to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to the promotion of gambling content, including streaming. It reminded the platforms that Norway’s Broadcasting Act prohibits all gambling advertising apart from that promoting the state-owned monopoly operators Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.