CJEU Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou has issued an opinion on Malta’s Bill 55 after an Austrian court asked whether the law complies with EU rules. Emiliou found the specific request inadmissible but said laws such as Bill 55 conflict with EU rules on recognising and enforcing judgments; his opinion is non-binding.
The opinion may inform court decisions on enforcing judgments involving Malta-licensed gambling operators.
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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) published its 2026 annual activity report, reporting €18bn in combined online gross gaming revenue for its nine operator members in 2025, up 34% from 2024. The association said those members held 401 online gambling licences across 22 European jurisdictions and accounted for about 30% of the region’s online GGR.
Austria’s draft gambling law, before parliament and the European Union, would replace the online gambling monopoly with a multi-operator market ahead of the Win2Day exclusive licence’s expiry on 1 October 2027. Under the proposal, companies seeking entry would have to stop serving Austrian customers by January 2027 or face an 18-month licensing exclusion, rising to two years from 2030. The report says the transition timetable and risk of players moving to offshore sites concern industry groups.
Austria’s governing-party negotiators were due to discuss whether the planned gambling law should bar some unlicensed operators from obtaining licences, according to press reports and sources cited in the coverage. The proposed restriction could apply to companies found to have breached Austrian gambling law in the previous five years; its duration and inclusion in the bill remained unsettled.
The European Court of Justice has not established a uniform approach to claims seeking recovery of gambling losses incurred with operators unauthorised in a player’s country, according to the report. Its recent rulings and referrals have left national and regional courts to apply domestic gambling laws, with cases involving Germany and Austria among those discussed.
The European Court of Justice ruled that EU law does not prevent a member state from prohibiting online casino games and lottery betting, according to the report. The decision also allows consumers to seek repayment of losses under applicable national law where the games were prohibited.