Legislation

Belgium – EGBA welcomes Digital Services Act proposal

The European Commission has published its long-awaited legislative proposal for a Digital Service Act, which inter alia introduces rules for regulating large digital platforms and ensuring that markets impacted by digital gatekeepers remain fair and competitive.

EGBA welcomes the Commission’s proposal and its wider effort to deepen the European Digital Single Market (DSM) which is reflected in the comprehensiveness of its flagship DSA proposal. Although online gambling as such is not regulated by the DSA, the proposal is nevertheless relevant for Europe’s online gambling sector as it concerns, among other things, ex-ante rules for digital gatekeepers such as social media companies, the digital liability of online platforms, online advertising, and notice and take down actions.

The proposal will next be presented to the European Parliament and the Council, the two co-legislators of the EU, who will review the proposal and suggest amendments before coming to a joint agreement on the final contents of the legislation. EGBA looks forward to engaging with EU policymakers during this legislative process and will also reiterate to them the benefits of more common, EU rules and initiatives, such as e-ID, for cross-border digital sectors such as Europe’s online gambling sector, which is worth €24.5bn in revenue today and expected to reach €37.3bn by 2025.

Maarten Haijer, Secretary General said: “We welcome the Commission’s Digital Services Act and hope this will be the beginning of renewed efforts by the Commission to address many of the regulatory challenges which impact on companies and consumers who buy and sell services in the digital space. One of the challenges we see in Europe’s online gambling sector is the need for more consistent regulations in the EU, particularly in respect to customer protection, and the Commission needs to step up to address the current fragmentation.”