European Commission proposes consumer rules that could cover EU gambling operators
Regulation3 min read
The European Commission proposed the Digital Fairness Act on 11 November 2026. The draft could cover licensed operators’ product features and advertising, while gambling licensing remains with member states. If the Commission investigates a case itself under the revised CPC Regulation, it could impose a fine of up to 6% of worldwide annual turnover.
The Digital Fairness Act proposal, adopted by the Commission on 11 November 2026, could affect licensed gambling businesses’ websites and apps. It was accompanied by a Simplification Directive and a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation.
The proposal addresses design practices that encourage excessive use or spending, unfair personalisation, influencer marketing and subscriptions that are difficult to cancel. The Commission estimated that the rules could save EU consumers up to €13.7bn a year. The proposal puts recurring costs to businesses at €1.2bn a year.
Gambling licensing and market access would remain national responsibilities, and the proposal contains no general exemption for gambling operators. The regulation seeks full harmonisation, so member states could not impose stricter general consumer rules unless it permits them to do so. It would cover business-to-consumer practices before, during and after transactions.
Under Article 17, traders whose products encourage compulsive or excessive use, or could reasonably be expected to do so, would have to provide tools to switch off four types of feature. The features include autoplay, certain notifications, rewards for regular engagement or penalties for missed sessions, and simulated interpersonal relationships. The Commission could expand the list through delegated acts. Andrii Savyntsev, product owner team lead at supplier ICONIC21, said features that depend on pushing play beyond regulatory safety limits would not survive in the long term.
Article 15 would require sellers of paid-for variable reward systems to disclose the odds of each reward and give consumers a way to turn the systems off. The proposal lists loot boxes, wheels of fortune and collectible card packs as examples. The definition covers virtual items, excluding financial products, purchased with money or paid-for virtual currency and offering random rewards or variable odds. It leaves unclear how the definition applies to licensed gambling products.
Influencer content would need an “advertisement” or “commercial collaboration” label under Article 11. Influencers would also be barred from promoting products whose advertising to consumers is prohibited by EU or national law. That would prevent influencers from promoting gambling in a member state where gambling advertising is banned. Article 12 would prohibit ads targeted using profiling based on special categories of personal data, such as health data. Article 13 would prohibit personalised pricing likely to cause harm when the trader is reasonably certain that a consumer is vulnerable due to factors such as disability, age, credulity or serious personal circumstances.
The Digital Fairness Act and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation update represent the most significant overhaul of EU consumer protection rules in more than 20 years, according to Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection. He joined Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen to present the package at a Brussels press conference.
Austria notified its gambling law reform to the Commission in August. Spillemyndigheden launched a campaign on gambling elements in children’s games in October.