A new European bingo association has been launched in the European Parliament to represent the interests of bingo operators at EU level.

EUBingo, the Federation of European Bingo Associations, was unveiled by Bill Newton Dunn MEP on 31 January and currently consists of the British Bingo Association and the Spanish Confederacion Espanola de Organizaciones de Empresarios del Juego del Bingo (the Spanish confederation of organisations of bingo games managers).

The Brussels-based federation, whose co-presidents are Sir Peter Fry and Jose Luis Iniesta, hopes to recruit other members to create a network of bingo associations throughout the EU.

Initially, EUBingo’s interests include the Draft Framework Services Directive, the soon to be released commission study on gambling, EU working time legislation, corporate social responsibility, the EU’s SME policy, infringement proceedings against national gambling monopolies and the EU anti-smoking campaign.

In 2004, the UK bingo industry employed around 19,200 people in 678 clubs with profits of £261.7m. Details: +32 2 626 1994