The European Gaming and Betting Association has urged the European Commission to align the Digital Fairness Act with national gambling frameworks, warning that overlapping EU and member-state rules could create legal uncertainty and duplicate obligations.
The EC this week added articles to the DFA, which aims to modernise consumer protection in digital markets. While the Act does not directly target gambling, the sector faces potential exposure to its core requirements: bans on manipulative marketing, mandatory influencer disclosures, restrictions on targeting children, and simplified subscription cancellations. For operators, the most significant may be 'fairness by design'—allowing users to disable addictive design features like persistent prompts. Depending on how EU member-state courts interpret this, operator bonuses such as free bets and free spins could become targets for consumer challenges.
'More regulation does not automatically mean better consumer protection,' said Pierre Tournier, interim secretary general of EGBA. The trade body flagged inter-jurisdictional disputes already underway, with Maltese operators facing legal challenges in Germany and Austria over the island's Bill 55 legislation. EGBA backs stronger consumer protections and enforcement against illegal operators but cautioned that regulation confined to licensed providers leaves the illegal market untouched.
