EGBA: EU gambling levy “fundamentally unworkable”
Table of contents
- The European Parliament’s Budget Committee has voted to include an online gambling levy among potential new revenue sources for the EU’s 2028 to 2034 budget.
- EGBA warns the proposal is legally unworkable, would boost unlicensed operators.
- A full Parliament plenary vote is expected on April 29, ahead of formal MFF negotiations.
The European Parliament’s Budget Committee voted on April 15 to adopt its interim opinion on the bloc’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), identifying an EU-wide online gambling levy as one of several potential new direct revenue streams for the 2028 to 2034 budget.
The opinion was adopted with 26 votes in favour, 9 against and 5 abstentions. An online gambling levy featured alongside a digital services levy, an extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and a charge on crypto-asset capital gains as possible alternative revenue sources, should other proposals be dropped during negotiations.
Background to the levy
The proposal draws on an idea first advanced in February by Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament, who called for a harmonised EU-wide charge on online gambling profits to fund education and youth policies.
Negrescu has advocated a 1% levy on gross gaming revenue, estimating it could raise between €2bn and €4bn annually and generate up to €28bn across the full budget cycle.
The Budget Committee’s interim report reaffirms Parliament’s commitment to introducing new “own resources” to repay NextGenerationEU debt, stressing these must generate around €60bn annually and be adopted alongside the next MFF. Any new EU own resource, however, requires the unanimous agreement of all 27 Member States acting through the EU Council.
EGBA pushes back
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) responded swiftly, warning that the proposal is both legally flawed and commercially damaging to the regulated sector.
Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, said:
“Today’s vote is a tentative, conditional call on Member States to explore the idea of an EU online gambling levy. It is neither a proposal nor a decision.
“Gambling is currently not harmonised at EU level and there is no legal basis to define, administer or collect such a levy. Setting aside these legal obstacles, adding yet another levy on top of existing national taxes — in a sector where licensed operators in some Member States are already taxed at rates exceeding 50% of gross gaming revenue — would only have one winner: illegal operators.”
Haijer added:
“Because they pay no tax, illegal operators can already offer players more attractive products and prices without any of the consumer safeguards that licensed operators provide. Adding an EU levy would make this situation even worse: expanding the black market, harming consumer protection for EU citizens, and reducing overall tax revenues for Member States.”
The channelisation argument sits at the heart of the industry’s opposition. National gambling tax rates across the EU already range from low single digits in some jurisdictions to nearly 40% of gross gaming revenue in others.
Legal analysts have noted that an additional EU charge applied solely to licensed operators could deepen competitive imbalances with offshore platforms operating outside national licensing frameworks.
What comes next
The full Parliament is expected to vote on the Budget Committee’s opinion at its plenary on April 29. Formal MFF negotiations will begin after that, with a conclusion expected by the end of 2026.
For licensed operators, the trajectory of these talks carries significant commercial weight. EGBA members collectively hold 321 online gambling licences across 21 European countries, accounting for approximately 30% of Europe’s online gambling gross gaming revenue.
The association has signalled it will continue to oppose the levy as negotiations develop through the year.
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