iGaming industry stakeholders will be watching the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) very closely next month, as it is scheduled to deliver a judgement on the heavily debated Malta Bill 55 on 19 November.
Introduced in June 2023, Bill 55 included Article 56A of the Maltese Gaming Act, which would not require Maltese courts to recognise or enforce foreign rulings, such as when an operator supplies an offering in another EU country without a licence, which is legal under Maltese law.
Debates around Bill 55 have been circling for several years, especially regarding rulings on grey and black market operators when they operate in regulated markets without a licence or in regions where gambling is illegal.
Plenty of industry stakeholders have already pushed back against Bill 55, including the German regulator Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL).
Proceedings originating from Austria’s Handelsgericht Wien referred questions to the CJEU regarding the European law compatibility of Bill 55, as Austrian courts sided with players and cited that any overseas operator was illegal in the country.
However, the Maltese courts emphasised the free market and EU laws enabling the free movement of services, illegitimising the original Austrian decision in the eyes of the Maltese legal system.
Additional pressure was placed on Bill 55 in April, as Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou concluded that a preliminary ruling on its legitimacy was inadmissible and not necessary for the conclusion of a case before the Austrian courts, describing it as ‘manifestly incompatible with the rules governing the recognition and enforcement of judgments’.
Emiliou added that player restriction rulings against Maltese online gambling operators made in EU member states must be recognised not only in Malta but also in other EU states.
Many stakeholders in the industry will be keeping close tabs on the 19 November CJEU ruling to see what the future of iGaming looks like across Europe and what perspective European courts should have on Bill 55.
