TLDR The European Parliament’s Budget Committee will discuss a proposed 1% levy on gambling operators across all 27 EU member states on May 27 The levy could generate between €2 billion and €4 billion per year, potentially reaching €28 billion over a seven-year budget cycle Industry groups warn the tax would push customers toward illegal gambling sites, which they say already make up 71% of Europe’s betting market The EU is searching for new revenue streams ahead of its 2028–2034 budget framework, expected to approach €2 trillion The proposal is still in early stages and faces resistance from both gambling companies and individual member states over tax sovereignty concerns
The European Parliament is preparing to formally discuss a proposal that would impose a continent-wide levy on gambling operators to help fund the EU’s next long-term budget.
The Parliament’s Budget Committee will hold discussions on the measure on May 27. The session will examine whether a 1% charge tied to gambling revenues or turnover should be introduced across all 27 member states.
Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu put the proposal forward earlier this year. It has now moved beyond political signalling into formal procedural territory.
Brussels Faces Growing Pressure to Find New Revenue
The discussion comes as Brussels scrambles to identify new income sources ahead of negotiations for the 2028 to 2034 budget cycle. That framework is expected to approach €2 trillion.
The EU needs money for defence spending, industrial policy, green transition programmes and debt from previous crises. Ideas once considered politically impossible are now being taken seriously.
Supporters of the levy, mainly from the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, say the gambling sector is a natural target for EU-level taxation. They point to its cross-border expansion and increasingly digital business model.
Internal estimates from supporters