The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is backing the European standard on markers of harm, published by the national standardisation bodies of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) earlier this week.
Support has been given to the standard, described by the trade association as ‘an important voluntary baseline for identifying risky gambling behaviour’, establishing a strong European consumer protection baseline with its members committed to standard alignment.
The standard received approval from national standardisation bodies in October 2025, while Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, has described it as an ‘important milestone’ and said it will help ‘raise the bar on player protection across Europe’.
The association says the standard is ‘the first of its kind in the gambling industry’ and the organisation has been actively involved in its development since proposing it to CEN in 2022, working closely with operators, national authorities, academics and other harm prevention stakeholders.
‘Important milestone’
According to the EGBA, the standard helps to spot nine core behavioural markers that operators can use to recognise risky gambling patterns before they escalate:
- Changes in stake volume or frequency.
- Speed or intensity of play.
- Deposit frequency, size, or failed deposits.
- Withdrawals and cancelled withdrawals.
- Player-initiated contact.
- Session duration or time-of-day play.
- Use of multiple products.
- Net losses or loss trajectories over time.
- Changes to safety tools such as limits and self-exclusion.
Haijer commented: “This is an important milestone for player protection in Europe. When widely adopted, this voluntary standard will lead to earlier identification of risky play and, ultimately, better protection for players.
“Our members are ahead of the curve on implementation – they are already applying many aspects of the standard and are committed to alignment across their European operations. We encourage other operators to adopt the standard and help raise the bar on player protection across Europe.”
As a voluntary tool, the standard complements existing national regulatory frameworks across Europe, but the association noted that certain markers may not be applicable where they conflict with national law in some markets, impacting implementation as a result.
EGBA members – online gambling operators established, licensed, and regulated within the EU – are already putting the standard into practice, with most members already monitoring all nine behavioural indicators, with many having embedded them across all their operations.
Members are also applying risk-scoring models to continuously assess player behaviour and flag emerging risk patterns, in addition to being committed to progressive alignment with the standard across all their operations.
“When widely adopted, this voluntary standard will lead to earlier identification of risky play and, ultimately, better protection for players.”
Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of European Gaming and Betting Association
EU online gambling levy
However, the EGBA may be on the front foot again relatively soon, as it wishes European legislators to reconsider a proposed EU online gambling levy given its potential impact on the industry.
While the association is backing the CEN standard on markers of harm, it has recently pushed back at the proposed EU online gambling levy on top of national gambling taxes, describing the plans as ‘fundamentally unworkable’.
The EGBA added that the levy would only benefit illegal operators at the ‘expense of consumer protection’ and reduce member states’ tax revenues.
At the end of April, the European Parliament voted in favour (370 votes for, 201 against, 84 abstentions) of adopting its interim report on the EU’s 2028-2034 long-term budget, which included the EU online gambling levy, establishing the Parliament’s official mandate for upcoming budget negotiations with the EU Council.
Victor Negrescu, Vice President of the European Parliament, proposed the levy during a plenary session back in February, stating it could generate ‘€2bn-€4bn per year’ in additional funding.
The levy would require a unanimous agreement from all 27 member states acting through the EU Council to become a new direct revenue stream for the EU budget.
Haijer said back in April: “Because they pay no tax, illegal operators can already offer players more attractive products and prices without any of the consumer safeguards that licensed operators provide.
“Adding an EU levy would make this situation even worse: expanding the black market, harming consumer protection for EU citizens, and reducing overall tax revenues for Member States.”
