Europe is amidst a wave of changes to online gambling regulation, and the Hague is at the centre of it. Even in the Netherlands, its home country, laws are adapting to increase the quality and safety of online gambling. But what direction is The Hague taking, and how has it impacted the Netherlands' gambling reforms?

Stricter Regulation on Personal Data

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in 2018 and still shapes European digital policies today. It will undoubtedly have an impact on upcoming Dutch bills on gambling, particularly in relation to the sharing of personal data with third-party sites.

A study by the Quality Mark Responsible Affiliates in the country recently looked at six offshore operators that were operating without a license and targeting Dutch players. These could be found through affiliate websites or were searchable via the term “casino without cruks”. Cruks is the term for the Dutch self-expulsion programme for online casinos.

An affiliate website is a site that rates and ranks online casinos based on several factors. When people follow their recommendation via a link, the affiliate website gains a small fee at no extra cost to the customer. Many of these operate legitimately, providing a valuable service helping players find the best value for money, bonuses, and game selections. Not only do they have robust security, such as age checks, but they also have vital information, such as a guide to online gambling in the Netherlands. This can help visitors and those of the right age know what is within the law and help facilitate safer gambling.

The KSA has also said that it will increase its monitoring of the control database for licensed operators. Recently, this has been used to perform automated checks on all license holders. A recent check by it flagged up at least one potential failing for each operator. They have now been warned that up-to-date, timely record keeping on the database is essential and that compliant data is a legal requirement.

Any found to be in breach of this must update immediately. A check will be made on them in the next quarter as a follow-up.

The Hague Sides With Dutch Operators

The Hague District Court recently sided with the KSA over a dispute with a Maltese gambling corporation. This was over the rejection of a license applicationdating back to 2023, showing the Hague is taking a no-nonsense approach.

When conducting integrity tests, the KSA had uncovered a concern related to a former shareholder in the operator. They had been a suspect in the murder of a journalist who had been investigating a corruption scandal in the country. The regulator said that information supplied on this was “incorrect and evasive or incomplete,” and refused the application, which the operator disputed.

In February, the Hague sided with the regulator. Despite information supplied by the operator, they said that the initial reliability of the company was to be questioned and that the KSA did the right thing. They added that “Ensuring the integrity of providers has a high priority, and it is the responsibility of the provider to demonstrate this reliability with the correct information."

Changes to Slot Games
In line with the Hague's strict approach to gambling, the Netherlands has also begun to clamp down on slot games. In February this year, Teun Struycken, the Secretary of State in the Netherlands, floated the idea of a possible rise in the age limit of slot games. While a recent study found that only 3% of residents play online slots, they are a worry due to their addictive nature. However, this idea has since been hotly contested.

The worry is that raising the age will only send people to online operators, at which point the government has very little control. At the last round of talks in April, it was decided that an investigation would be held into how this would impact the black market and if it would be detrimental to problem gambling, as opposed to helping.

The Dutch authorities have also been stringent in their crackdown on the autoplay feature. Autoplay allows games to be played without people manually making a bet. They set their base amount, and the feature does the rest for them. This has mainly been used in online slots, but is also a feature of some table games that are electronic in nature.

The KSA is very strict on autoplay, having previously banned it. In March, they were notified that one Dutch casino had not removed this feature from a roulette table. As well as sending a letter to the venue to have it removed, it also sent letters to those in the jurisdiction, reminding them that autoplay is banned. It is unlikely this feature will return any time soon.

The Hague is being strict, but with good reason. If companies comply with regulations, they have nothing to fear. This will soon bring about a wide gambling ecosystem that may one day begin to police itself.