EU Aims Potentially Fatal Blow At Malta's Bill 55

June 18, 2025
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The European Commission has told Malta that the legal shield protecting gambling operators from hundreds of millions of euros of player claims is illegal and should be revoked.
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The European Commission has told Malta that the legal shield protecting gambling operators from hundreds of millions of euros of player claims is illegal and should be revoked.

The commission announced on Wednesday that it had opened an infringement procedure against Malta.

It has told the Maltese government that Article 56A of its Gambling Act, colloquially known as Bill 55, is in violation of EU rules on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters.

Bill 55 acts as a shield protecting gambling companies headquartered in Malta from thousands of lawsuits that began in Austria, Germany and elsewhere, which have seen operators routinely ordered to return player losses accrued from the grey market.

The law has empowered judges in Malta to reject judgements transposed from other EU nations on the grounds that attacking the nation’s gambling policy violates its “public order”, because a point-of-supply gambling sector is so central to Malta, according to the law.

The European Commission argues that Malta has “failed to comply [with EU regulations] by imposing on its courts an obligation to systematically refuse — on grounds of national public policy — the recognition and enforcement of judgments issued by courts of other EU Member States against Maltese-licensed gaming companies”.

This protectionism “undermines the principle of mutual trust in the administration of justice within the Union”, the commission said.

The Maltese Gaming Authority immediately hit back on Wednesday, claiming that Malta does not impose a blanket ban on enforcing European judgements against its gambling companies.

The regulator said its status as a hub for gambling operators to passport their EU licence into other nations was a long-held public policy, backed up by robust regulations.

Bill 55, the MGA said, does not introduce new grounds that judges can use to reject player claims; instead, “it codifies into law Malta’s longstanding public policy on gaming matters”.

The news of enforcement proceedings was greeted with joy by those backing player claims against grey-market operators.

Stefan Bohar, a board member at litigation funding firm Advofin, said: “It was about time – the tonality of the statement paints a clear picture: the European Commission is done waiting on Malta to come to its senses and stop protecting illegal gambling activities to boost its economy.”

The European Commission has been investigating Bill 55 since 2023.

Malta has now been given two months to respond and address the issues laid out by the commission.

If it fails to do so, the EU’s executive arm could opt to issue a so-called “reasoned opinion”, after which it can choose to take Malta to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to force it to change its law.

Philippe Vlaemminck, a EU law expert and a vocal critic of Bill 55, said that he has little doubt that the commission will initiate legal proceedings if Malta does not drop the offending article.

If the ECJ rules against Malta and it still refuses to comply, the EC can choose to punish Malta with daily penalties and other sanctions.

Asked if he believed Malta had any chance of winning a potential case before the European court, Vlaemmick said: “Honestly, no.”

After an initial surge of success for player claims post-pandemic, Bill 55 successfully slowed the avalanche of court cases, as gambling operators successfully retreated to their Maltese headquarters.

A change in Malta’s law would unlock thousands of stalled cases, especially those originating in Austria, which could see the industry forced to return hundreds of millions of euros.

Austrian courts have almost exclusively sided with players and rejected arguments that the country’s single licence system for online casinos is against EU laws.

The defeat of Bill 55 would also unblock numerous cases in Germany, although the industry is pursuing several cases before the ECJ in separate attempts to stem the flow of refund claims.

These include a case that considers whether Germany’s former online gambling regime, during which operators could not apply for many types of online licences, was EU compliant.

Revoking Malta’s protection would also empower player claims to spread to other EU jurisdictions that have current or previous grey markets. 

These jurisdictions include the Netherlands, where player claims are already picking up steam, but lawyers are also known to be examining several other European countries for potential cases.

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