European Casino Association Pushes for Europol Powers as Illegal Gambling Market Reaches €91.6bn

Europe’s regulated casino industry is pressing Brussels to give Europol a bigger role in the fight against illegal online gambling after new figures suggested the black market aimed at EU consumers expanded to €91.6 billion last year.

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The call came during a roundtable in the European Parliament, where the European Casino Association (ECA) presented research pointing to another year of rapid growth for unlicensed operators. The report estimates the illegal market increased by roughly 14% from the previous year, adding fresh urgency to a debate already underway over Europol’s future powers.

The timing is significant. The European Commission has proposed reforms that would expand Europol’s operational responsibilities and strengthen its ability to share and analyse data in cross-border investigations. The ECA wants illegal online gambling to become a clear priority within that broader mandate.

Industry warns enforcement is falling behind

Erwin van Lambaart, who chairs the ECA, argued that national authorities are struggling to keep pace with operators that routinely target customers across multiple European jurisdictions while remaining outside the reach of local regulators.

He maintained that stronger coordination between Europol, the European Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), financial intelligence units and national enforcement bodies would make it easier to convert intelligence into coordinated action. Without that level of cooperation, he warned, illegal operators will continue expanding at the expense of licensed businesses, government tax revenues and player protections.

The report, prepared by Gambling Compliance International for the ECA, paints a broad picture of the scale involved. It estimates that illegal gambling deprived EU member states of around €22.9 billion in tax revenue while more than 6,200 unlicensed operators actively targeted European consumers.

The findings also suggest that illegal websites now generate the majority of online gambling revenue across the EU-27, while much of the gambling content seen by European users promotes operators that do not hold local licences.

Van Lambaart argued that licensed casinos invest heavily in responsible gambling measures and anti-money laundering controls, whereas many illegal operators, often based outside the European Union, face few of those obligations while remaining easily accessible online.

Lawmakers back closer cooperation

The parliamentary discussion was hosted by Member of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl and brought together representatives from the European Commission, Europol, AMLA, Eurojust, national gambling regulators and industry specialists.

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Mandl described illegal online gambling as a cross-border issue affecting consumer protection, organised crime and the integrity of the EU’s internal market. He signalled support for ensuring Europol has sufficient resources and authority to assist member states more effectively, adding that the evidence presented by the ECA would feed into future parliamentary work.

Discussions were held under the Chatham House Rule, allowing participants to exchange views on enforcement challenges and possible policy responses without attributing individual comments.

Focus also turns to social media

Pressure is also building around the role of online platforms in promoting unlicensed gambling websites.

Many gambling stakeholders argue that illegal operators continue reaching consumers through affiliate marketing and social media content that remains online for too long. Platforms including YouTube and Twitch have frequently been cited in that debate.

The European Commission, though, maintains that existing legislation already provides tools to address the problem.

Responding last month to questions from German MEP Sabine Verheyen, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen pointed to the Digital Services Act as the EU’s primary mechanism for tackling illegal gambling promotions. Rather than announcing new enforcement measures, she argued that the legislation already requires platforms to provide systems for reporting illegal content and obliges the largest platforms and search engines to assess and reduce the spread of unlawful material, including advertising for unlicensed gambling services.

The exchange came after Verheyen referred to earlier research commissioned by the ECA, which estimated that 71% of online gambling activity targeting European users takes place through unlicensed websites, adding another data point to an increasingly heated debate over how Europe should respond to the expanding illegal market.

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Source: igamingexpert.com