EL establishes Task Force on Illegal Gambling & launches pilot project to strengthen enforcement cooperation & protect Europe’s regulated lottery sector
On 13 May 2026, EL hosted a webinar dedicated to the growing challenge of illegal online gambling. Bringing together experts from lotteries, legal practice and digital compliance, the session reflected on lotteries’ continued commitment to protecting players, safeguarding regulated markets and reinforcing enforcement capacity across its membership.
Opening the discussion, EL Secretary General Piet Van Baeveghem reaffirmed that combating illegal gambling remains a strategic priority for EL. He underlined the risks posed by illegal operators to consumer protection, fair competition and trust in regulated lottery systems, as well as pointing out a recent case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) confirming that online gambling operators must comply with national regulatory frameworks, while Member States retain full responsibility for enforcement within their jurisdictions. Additionally, he noted that sustained pressure on regulated operators can unintentionally create additional space for illegal supply, reinforcing the need for coordinated and effective responses.
Task Force work and shared priorities
To help translate EL's strategic priority into practical support and tangible added value for members, the EL Executive Committee recently established the EL Task Force on Illegal Gambling, composed of nominated experts from Belgium, Finland, France, Greece and Poland. The Task Force focuses on two closely linked priorities:
- Consolidating and sharing best practices across members, and;
- Supporting a pilot project with White Bullet to strengthen monitoring and enforcement capabilities.
Member perspectives on enforcement in practice
The webinar highlighted concrete operational experiences from members dealing with illegal gambling across different regulatory environments.
Spyros Gavrilis of Allwyn Greece presented an approach based on continuous digital monitoring and structured reporting to regulators. He described how automated detection systems combined with human validation have enabled faster identification of illegal operators and improved the quality and acceptance of enforcement evidence, particularly through regular, standardized reporting processes.
From Finland, Tuomas Matila of Veikkaus Oy focused on intellectual property as an important enforcement lever. He underlined the importance of maintaining a strong and actively enforced trademark portfolio to combat illegal advertising and protect consumers. He also pointed to the limits of platform enforcement tools, which often require constant monitoring and escalation to remain effective.
Piotr Papis of Totalizator Sportowy in Poland highlighted the increasing sophistication of illegal gambling networks, particularly their use of affiliate structures, payment fragmentation and domain agility. He stressed that effective enforcement must go beyond domain blocking and include payment disruption, intelligence sharing and coordinated action across institutions. He also pointed to the growing role of data-driven tools and AI in strengthening detection and analysis.
Pilot project
The webinar also introduced EL’s pilot project with White Bullet – a UK-based company specialised in online risk intelligence and digital compliance – presented by CEO and founder Peter Szyszko and Director of Product Innovation and Head of Online Gambling Compliance Filip Petru.
The pilot project focuses on monitoring illegal gambling content across websites, search engines and social media platforms, and identifying illegal and high-risk operators active online. Going beyond monitoring alone, the initiative also includes direct engagement with intermediaries and digital platforms to support the removal of illegal content and improve enforcement effectiveness. As a limited-scope pilot initiative, the project is currently running over a three-month period and focuses on France, Greece and Poland across a predefined digital ecosystem. Once completed, the results and operational findings will provide a practical basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the approach and considering next steps.
Legal framework and platform responsibility
EL Legal Adviser Philippe Vlaemminck outlined key developments in CJEU case law reaffirming that gambling regulation remains a national competence and that illegality is determined by the location of the player. He also stressed the obligation for Member States to maintain coherent and systematic regulatory frameworks, including enforcement against illegal operators. In addition, he highlighted the growing relevance of platform responsibility under the Digital Services Act, as well as ongoing legal and policy discussions on strengthening accountability for intermediaries facilitating the distribution of illegal gambling content.
Next steps
Interim findings from the pilot project will be presented during the EL Industry Days in Marrakesh in June, with final results expected in autumn 2026. Based on these outcomes, EL will identify the most appropriate next steps to ensure that all members feel empowered and equipped to respond effectively to illegal and irresponsible online gambling activities, particularly at national level.
Questionnaire on Best Practices in Tackling Illegal Gambling
Through this short questionnaire, EL invites all members not directly represented in the Task Force to contribute their experience and initiatives. The input will support the ongoing mapping of practical approaches and help ensure that collective expertise is translated into actionable guidance for all members dealing with illegal gambling challenges.
