Peter Agius Co-signatures
Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Cc: Commissioner Michael McGrath
DG Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200 1049 Brussels Belgium
Strasbourg, 31 March 2025
Object: Call for consistency in the gambling sector
Dear Commissioners,
While allowing for a certain margin for Member State policy in gambling, internal market consistency was reasonably ensured until 2017 through enforcement by the Commission. In 2017 however , the Commission decided to stop infringement proceedings and close pending procedures 1
This opened the door to many domestic barriers impeding free movement and to unregulated operators and monopolies operating in breach of EU law. The resulting f ragmentation is reaching an unbearable point with some jurisdictions now declaring competence for enforcement against operators established in other jurisdictions, which, on the other hand , refuse to enforce judgments in other Member States’ citing EU fundamental freedoms. The vicious cycle is painfully demonstrated in judgments handed down recently by Maltese and Austrian courts 2 with one declaring exceptional jurisdiction to execute judgments , which the Maltese Court consider against European law.
1https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_17_5109
2 Civil Court first chamber, European Lotto and Betting Ltd v Philipp Wahl, 27 February 2025, n°436/2022FDP and Civil Court first chamber, TSG Interactive Gaming Europe Ltd v Gerhard Posch, 27 February 2025, n°410/2022FDP
Illegal operators are the ones benefiting from the Commission’s inaction 3 to such an extent that they now enjoy the biggest market share in online gambling 4. All of this is exposing players to higher risks since rogue traders are unfettered by consumer rules. 5
In this ecosystem Third Party Litigation Funding6 bids are flourishing exploiting fragmentation and consumer vulnerability. 7
The current situation is the direct result of the Commission’s inaction. This state of affairs is now weighing heavily against consumers, EU competitiveness, EU jobs and freedom of movement.
We call on the Commission to urgently use its competences and relevant instruments to ensure that Member States adapt law and practice on gambling in line with EU rules. We also call upon you to regulate TPLF as per earlier calls by the European Parliament
With kind regards,
Peter Agius MEP
3 European Commission, Green Paper on on-line gambling in the Internal Market SEC(2011) 321 final , 24 March 2011.
4 Regulus Partners, Reducing online gambling black markets – an analysis of international practices used to combat online gambling black markets, September 2024 : illegal market represents 63% of the total online gambling market in Hungary, 60% in Germany, 55% in France and 66% in Finland and are often underestimated by Regulators.
5 A 2023 report published by the French Gambling Authority (“ANJ”) exposes that the illegal online gambling generates greater h ealth risks than legal gambling. Indeed, it put s forward that the proportion of players with problematic or excessive behavior is three times higher among consumers of illegal online gambling (66%), than among consumers of legal online gambling (22%) See PwC, Etude sur l’offre illégale de jeux d’argent et de hasard en ligne accessible en France, Rapport préparé pour l’ANJ, December 2023, page 50
6 Third-party litigation funding
7 AdvoFin website - How to get your money back from illegal online casino providers! (link).