EGBA calls for support for landmark European Safer Gambling Standard
Summary
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is urging national standardisation delegates to approve a European standard on markers of harm in online gambling at the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). The vote closes on 25 September 2025 and follows EGBA’s proposal to CEN in 2022.
The draft standard sets out a list of evidence-based behavioural indicators — such as changes in speed, time and duration of play — which, when analysed together, can signal risky or problematic gambling and enable earlier intervention and harm prevention. The CEN process has brought together academics, regulators, operators and harm-prevention professionals, and has already attracted support from stakeholders including the Gambling Regulators European Forum (GREF).
If approved, CEN expects to publish the voluntary standard by early 2026; national regulators will remain free to decide whether to incorporate it into their own safer-gambling frameworks.
Key Points
- EGBA has called on national delegates to approve a CEN standard defining markers of harm in online gambling.
- The draft identifies behavioural indicators (eg changes in speed, time and duration of play) that can flag risky gambling patterns.
- The standard was developed through a multi-stakeholder CEN process involving academics, regulators, operators and harm-prevention experts.
- The vote closes on 25 September 2025; publication by CEN is expected by early 2026 if approved.
- The standard will be voluntary, leaving national regulators to decide on local adoption and enforcement.
Context and Relevance
This initiative aims to fill a long-standing gap: there is no common, Europe-wide framework that defines which behaviours constitute markers of harm. A harmonised, evidence-based list will help operators detect risky play earlier and more consistently across borders, support regulators in comparing and aligning approaches, and raise the bar on player protection across the industry. Even as a voluntary standard, it could quickly become an influential reference in compliance, product design and safer-gambling tech.
Why should I read this?
Quick and blunt: this vote could give Europe a single playbook for spotting risky gambling. If you work in regulation, compliance, safer-gambling tech or operator risk, it matters — and the deadline’s right round the corner (25 Sep 2025). Two minutes now could save you scrambling later.
Source
Source: https://g3newswire.com/egba-calls-for-support-for-landmark-european-safer-gambling-standard/