SAPAR takes land-based gambling reform to the European Parliament
SAPAR President Sergio D’Angelo and Executive Vice-President Patrizio Perla met representatives of the European institutions in Brussels, bringing Italy’s land-based gambling reform into the wider European debate. The two association leaders travelled to the European Parliament on 14 July 2026 for a series of institutional meetings. The mission, publicly announced by the association, had a clear objective: to take the concerns of Italy’s land-based operators beyond national borders and seek new institutional counterparts at a decisive stage for the sector’s future.
The choice of Brussels does not shift political responsibility for the reform, which remains in the hands of the Italian Government and Parliament. Rather, it reflects SAPAR’s attempt to situate the challenges facing the retail sector within a broader discussion encompassing the single market, consumer protection, the sustainability of small and medium-sized businesses, and the growth of a digital offering no longer confined by physical borders. Speaking exclusively to SiGMA News, Sergio D’Angelo outlined the content of the meetings and identified five policy areas on which the association intends to continue working in the coming months.
A ‘more participatory and inclusive’ reform
The first issue discussed in Brussels was also the most pressing: the reform of Italy’s land-based gambling sector. Legislative Decree No. 41 of 25 March 2024 launched the reorganisation of the industry, beginning with remote gambling. The legislation redesigned the online licensing system and introduced new financial, technical and organisational requirements. The land-based network, however, was excluded from that initial phase and is still awaiting a comprehensive regulatory framework covering gaming machines, betting, bingo and the territorial distribution of gambling venues.
In SAPAR’s view, the next stage of the reform cannot be shaped exclusively through discussions between the public administration, major licensees and regional or local institutions. It must also involve the businesses that physically operate the network and have ensured its day-to-day functioning for decades. “The reform needs to be more participatory and more inclusive, involving all Italian and European small and medium-sized enterprises that currently operate within the land-based gambling supply chain,” D’Angelo told SiGMA News.
The association’s position seeks to bring machine operators back to the centre of the debate. These businesses often sit between the licensee and the venue operator, but are directly responsible for installing, maintaining and ensuring the proper operation of gaming machines. A significant part of Italy’s regulated gambling network relies on this widely distributed business structure. SAPAR argues that any reform that changes the market balance without directly involving these companies risks producing economic consequences that may prove difficult to reverse once the new licensing cycle has begun.
The challenge of the future tender
The second issue raised by the SAPAR delegation concerns the financial structure of future tender procedures. D’Angelo expressed concern about a model which, according to the association’s assessment, would impose greater financial burdens than the procedures launched in 2004 and 2011 and could reduce the role granted to some long-standing parts of the supply chain. The future tender for the land-based network has not yet been finalized. Concerns regarding its cost, structure and the possible exclusion of certain stakeholders therefore represent SAPAR’s position on the proposals discussed during the reform process, rather than a description of legislation or tender terms already in force.
According to D’Angelo, the businesses at risk of losing their central role have, over the decades, contributed to generating more than half of the gambling sector’s tax revenues. “We discussed the prospect of a new tender that would be more expensive than those launched in 2004 and 2011 and which now risks excluding certain parts of the supply chain,” the SAPAR President explained. “These are businesses that have contributed to the tax revenues generated by the industry for decades.”
The association’s argument does not focus solely on the initial amount the state could collect from licensing fees. SAPAR is calling for the entire duration of the licences to be taken into account, arguing that excessively burdensome entry conditions may deliver higher revenues in the short term while weakening the network’s productive capacity in subsequent years. D’Angelo illustrated the point through a Formula One analogy: “It is like entering a Formula One race with less fuel in order to make the car lighter and faster. You may gain an advantage at the beginning, but you will not be able to finish the race. A tender may bring in a little more money immediately, but it could result in much greater losses over the following nine years of the licence.”
The economic value of a tender should not, therefore, be measured solely by the price paid by licensees at the outset. It should also take into consideration the sustainability of betting turnover, business continuity, employment, the regulated network’s territorial presence, and the tax income generated throughout the entire licensing period.
Online gambling is growing, but illegal activity is also becoming cross-border
The third policy area concerns the expansion of online gambling and the ability of individual states to govern markets that are becoming increasingly detached from any specific territory. European gambling regulation remains fragmented. There is no single piece of sector-specific EU legislation, and each Member State retains the right to organise its own market, provided that national rules comply with the fundamental freedoms established by the treaties and with the principles developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
This autonomy has produced markedly different national systems for licensing, taxation, advertising, supervision, gambling limits and consumer protection. The European Commission has encouraged cooperation between national authorities and promoted voluntary mechanisms to facilitate information sharing, but has stopped short of creating a fully harmonised regulatory framework.
For SAPAR, the issue is not whether the digital transformation should be slowed down. The question is how to supervise a market in which illegal operators can move rapidly from one country to another. “We need to understand how to govern these new borderless markets,” D’Angelo said. “Online gambling is growing exponentially and, as happens in every expanding market, illegal activity is also moving onto digital platforms.”
The SAPAR President directly links the fight against unlicensed websites to the protection of public finances. “We need to innovate our enforcement tools, because every euro taken away from a state is a euro taken away from welfare.” The challenge affects both land-based and digital gambling. An excessive reduction in the regulated retail offering could push part of the demand towards unlicensed channels, whether online or physical. At the same time, the ability to block payments, websites and illegal promotional activity requires cooperation that extends beyond national borders.
Gambling addiction: 27 different regulatory systems
The fourth issue is the one D’Angelo describes as personally the most important: the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction. The European Union does not have a single regulatory system in this area either. Health and consumer protection are recognised as objectives at EU level, but the practical measures are determined by individual Member States. As a result, there are different national approaches to self-exclusion, deposit limits, advertising, staff training, player identification and the funding of prevention programmes.
In 2014, the European Commission adopted a recommendation setting out common principles for the protection of consumers, players and minors using online gambling services. However, the recommendation is not legally binding and has not eliminated the fragmentation between national systems. “We operate within a European market, but when it comes to protection against gambling addiction, we have 27 different sets of rules,” D’Angelo observed.
His statement highlights a practical problem. Players can access digital products and services through platforms operating in several countries, while protection, assistance and self-exclusion mechanisms remain largely national. SAPAR believes greater European convergence could make supervision more effective and reduce differences between markets. This would not necessarily mean imposing a single gambling law on every Member State, but rather identifying shared minimum standards, interoperable systems and common criteria for recognising problematic gambling behaviour.
The challenge also concerns the relationship between online and retail gambling. Land-based networks have staff who can interact directly with customers, but those employees require appropriate training and clear protocols. Digital operators, by contrast, can analyse large volumes of data on gambling behaviour, but need transparent algorithms and effective intervention procedures. A more coordinated European system could bring these tools together, preventing the level of protection available to a player from depending entirely on the country where the operator is based or on the channel through which the customer chooses to gamble.
Non-prize machines as a testing ground for the single market
The fifth issue discussed in Brussels concerns automatic amusement machines that do not offer cash prizes, including video games, simulators, cranes, ticket-redemption machines and other attractions found in amusement arcades and theme parks. In Italy, these products fall under Article 110, paragraph 7, of the Consolidated Law on Public Security. In recent years, the Customs and Monopolies Agency has introduced technical standards, certification procedures and transitional periods for adapting machines, including those manufactured or imported from June 2021 onwards.
SAPAR nevertheless believes that the Italian framework remains poorly suited to the pace of industry development. “Italy has an ageing machine estate because, unlike other European countries, our starting point is legislation developed in the early 2000s, which now struggles to keep pace with the new and more technologically advanced products available on the market,” D’Angelo explained.
According to the SAPAR President, non-prize amusement machines could provide the most straightforward area in which to begin a process of European harmonisation. Since they do not award cash prizes, they raise different regulatory questions from amusement with prize (AWP) machines, video lottery terminals, casinos and betting products. “We asked for a stronger commitment because, as these products are intended solely for entertainment, it should be easier to reach an agreement between Member States and build a single market across the European Union.”
The request primarily concerns technical standards, certification procedures and the possibility of marketing the same machines in several countries without having to comply with completely different procedures in each jurisdiction. A more uniform framework could encourage innovation and reduce costs for manufacturers, importers and operators. Any proposal would, however, still have to account for national responsibilities relating to public security, licensing and the protection of minors, which also apply to products that do not award monetary prizes.
The limits of European competence
SAPAR’s mission should not be interpreted as a request for the European Parliament to directly rewrite Italy’s licensing system. Member States retain autonomy over the organisation of gambling services. They may impose restrictions justified by consumer protection, fraud prevention and the fight against addiction, provided that those measures are consistent and proportionate.
The European Union can nevertheless intervene in areas related to the functioning of the internal market, the cross-border provision of services, data protection, anti-money laundering, and consumer rights. It can also encourage cooperation between regulators and support the development of common standards. This is the institutional space in which SAPAR intends to position its initiative. The European dimension can provide a forum for comparing national models, examining the impact of different rules and assessing whether certain solutions could be shared.
For Italy’s land-based network, international cooperation could prove particularly useful in three areas: tackling illegal online gambling, establishing responsible gambling standards and developing technical rules for non-prize amusement machines.
Further meeting expected by the end of 2026
The Brussels mission is not expected to remain an isolated initiative. At the conclusion of the meetings, the SAPAR delegation agreed to prepare more detailed technical documentation. “We concluded the meetings with a commitment to submit, over the coming weeks, a document setting out how the European market for amusement machines, both with and without cash prizes, could develop in the future,” D’Angelo said.
SAPAR also plans to return to Brussels by the end of 2026 to continue discussions with its European counterparts it met and to present its proposals. The credibility of the initiative will now depend on the association’s ability to translate its demands into data, economic analysis and workable regulatory solutions. The reform of land-based gambling involves competing considerations, including public revenue, health protection, business sustainability, regional autonomy, employment and the fight against illegal gambling.
For SAPAR, defending the businesses that operate across Italy’s local gambling network remains the starting point. The European Parliament mission, however, also demonstrates a willingness to move the debate beyond Italy’s borders. The growth of online gambling, the mobility of operators and the widespread use of common technologies are making it increasingly difficult to address the market through 27 entirely separate systems. Gambling remains a national responsibility, but many of the challenges it creates have become European. It is on this contradiction that SAPAR intends to build the next stage of its institutional strategy.
This article was first published on the Italian SiGMA News page on 17 July 2026.
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