Europe’s online gambling industry has grown quietly into one of the continent’s most complex digital markets: cross-border in nature and increasingly lucrative for government treasuries. Now a new political proposal in Brussels seeks to tap into that revenue stream at the European level.
Victor Negrescu, vice president of the European Parliament and a member of Romania’s Socialists and Democrats party, has proposed introducing a coordinated European tax on online gambling operators. The idea, floated as part of discussions around the EU’s future multiannual budget, would allocate the proceeds to education and youth policies. “Online gambling is an inherently digital, cross-border sector that benefits from the Single Market and our shared digital infrastructure…” Negrescu, who wants to introduce a 1% levy on gambling gross revenue, tells iGB.
