EU Budget Committee set to debate gambling levy
Table of contents
- The EU Budget Committee is expected to debate a proposed 1% levy on gambling operator revenue on 27 May, with Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin expected to attend.
- Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu introduced the proposal in February, with the S&D group estimating it could generate between €2bn and €4bn annually for health, education and youth programmes.
- The EGBA has called the plan “unworkable”, warning it would benefit illegal operators already paying no tax.
The EU Budget Committee is expected to debate a proposed Europe-wide gambling levy on 27 May, in a session Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin is expected to attend.
The measure has moved from political signalling to formal parliamentary scrutiny, though no legislation is expected to emerge from the session.
Political backing
The proposal was introduced in February by Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament and a member of the Budget Committee. According to Negrescu’s February proposal, the measure would introduce a 1% charge on an operator’s gambling revenue across all EU member states, on top of existing domestic tax regimes.
The EU’s Socialists and Democrats group has endorsed the plan. According to the S&D group, a levy of this kind could generate between €2bn and €4bn a year for health, education and youth programmes, potentially reaching €28bn over the EU’s seven-year budget cycle.
The proposal arrives as Brussels seeks new revenue streams ahead of negotiations for the EU’s next long-term budget covering 2028 to 2034, a framework expected to approach €2 trillion. On 11 March, MEPs asked the European Commission to assess whether an EU-wide levy on online gambling and betting would be legally feasible and practical to enforce.
Negrescu has framed the measure as complementary to, not a replacement for, domestic frameworks on gambling law, leaving member states free to set their own national tax regimes.
Industry pushback
The industry has responded with firm opposition. Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), said:
“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, according to EGBA, 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.”
The Commission has also been cool on the idea. According to the Commission, its own proposals for new “own resources”, put forward in July 2025, do not include a revenue stream based on a harmonised EU gambling tax.
A Commission spokesperson has stated that “gambling taxation is first and foremost a matter of national competence of Member States.”
Legal obstacles remain
No formal draft legislation exists for a gambling levy at EU level. The proposal has progressed through a parliamentary question and a Budget Committee discussion, but has not advanced to a resolution or committee report.
Any measure to create an EU gambling tax would require unanimous consent from all 27 member states under EU treaty rules, meaning countries with strong iGaming industries could block it.
National gambling tax regimes differ widely across the bloc, according to EGBA data, with rates on gross gambling revenue ranging from approximately 5% to 40%.
The 27 May session marks a meaningful procedural step, but the gap between debate and implementation remains considerable.
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