EU court sends Dutch gambling licence extension review back to Commission
The Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the Netherlands’ appeal, leaving in place the annulment of the European Commission’s 2020 approval of licence extensions made without a competitive process. The Commission must reassess whether the arrangements could confer an indirect state-aid advantage on organisations receiving gambling proceeds; the ruling does not establish that state aid occurred.
The Commission’s reassessment could affect how regulators structure gambling concessions and allocate proceeds under extensions without tenders.