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The three-hour debate on the Dutch gambling sector centred on a number of issues, including the illegal market, advertising and the legal age limit of 18.

Ten committee members, spanning the full political spectrum, addressed a number of research papers, sector activity reports and Justice State Secretary KT van Bruggen’s April 2026-dated letter, assessing the risks of gambling, and acknowledging the KSA’s estimation that channelisation had dropped below 50%.

While there were differing views on much of the content, one area in which Dutch MPs were united was the illegal market.

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“The regulatory failures are unhelpful but perhaps the sheer number and regularity of them has made them less remarkable, such that they become ‘wallpaper’,” Waugh says.

He argues that some lawyers and licensees believe the Commission’s presentation of cases is detached from the operational reality but feel they have little option other than to accept the “regulator’s truth” when settling.

“The Commission’s approach to reporting may well create the inaccurate impression that the industry is inherently non-compliant,” he adds. A more balanced account might place failures alongside the majority of licensees that pass assessments or lead on customer wellbeing, although Waugh considers such a shift unlikely.

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“These were serious breaches by Dabble. Wagering providers must have robust systems in place to protect people who have chosen to self-exclude,” Lidgerwood added.

Tabcorp Holdings Limited, one of Australia’s largest wagering and media companies was also fined more than AU$2.7 million earlier this year. ACMA clarified that Tabcorp had violated telemarketing and spam regulations over a 16-month period. 

It had sent over 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages within a 16-day window to customers who had explicitly unsubscribed. ACMA regarded the volume and timing of these messages as significant enough to warrant enforcement action.