The European Commission has proposed a Digital Fairness Act that would recast EU rules on unfair commercial practices as a directly applicable regulation. Licensing of gambling would stay with member states, but the new consumer rules would still reach operators’ sites and apps.
On 11 November 2026, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Digital Fairness Act, formally COM(2026) 1100 final. The proposal is for a regulation “on promoting fair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the offline and digital single market”, and it would repeal the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). It was presented in the same package as a simplification directive and a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation. It is a legislative proposal, not yet law.
A Commission news note said the Act is intended to tackle unfair online practices such as manipulative marketing and hidden fees, and that businesses “are expecting to save EU consumers up to €13.7 billion a year”. That figure is the Commission’s own estimate, not an independent audit.
What the proposal would do
The explanatory memorandum says the Act has two parts. First, it would turn the existing law on unfair commercial practices from a directive into a regulation, replacing 27 national transposing regimes. Second, it would add substantive rules on dark patterns, influencer marketing, unfair personalisation and spending-maximising practices, addictive design, unfair pricing practices, and fairness in contracts, where those practices are business-to-consumer commercial practices.
A Commission summary lists the headline measures as:
- a ban on manipulative “dark patterns”, such as fake claims that a product is almost sold out;
- clearer pricing, including a duty, in virtual queues, to show the current price in real time and the highest possible price;
- a “fairness by design” option for users to turn off addictive-design features that encourage excessive or compulsive spending;
- clearer disclosure of influencer marketing;
- a restriction on unfair personalised ads and prices that target minors;
- digital contracts and subscriptions that are easier to cancel, and an end to unpaid trials turning into subscription traps without the consumer’s agreement.
The legal text is more specific. Article 17 would require traders whose digital products are “intended, or can reasonably be foreseen to encourage compulsive or excessive use” to give adult consumers easily accessible tools to switch off, individually or all at once, four types of feature: autoplay and uninterrupted content without regular breaks; notifications not triggered by the user’s own activity; features that reward frequent engagement or penalise missed sessions; and features that simulate interpersonal relations, such as persistent prompts from an automated system. The Commission could later amend that list by delegated act.
Article 19 would require a trader using a virtual queue to display, and keep updated, the current price, whether it may change while the consumer waits, and the maximum price payable. Article 20 would require a clear reminder before a free trial ends, and would provide that the consumer is not bound to a paid continuation unless they have expressly agreed.
Why this matters for gambling operators
The proposal is a general consumer-law instrument. It is not a gambling licence. The recitals say the regulation should be without prejudice to national rules on conditions of establishment and authorisation, “including those rules which, in conformity with Union law, relate to gambling activities”. Member states would still decide who may offer betting or casino games, and national gambling laws would still be notified and reviewed under EU law in the usual way.
There is no general exemption for licensed gambling businesses. The obligations on design, personalisation, influencer marketing and cancellation would apply to business-to-consumer commercial practices on websites and apps, including those of operators that already hold a national licence. Recitals also discuss influencer marketing of “betting, lotteries or other forms of gambling products” among examples of content that may be unsuitable for minors, and they treat loot-box-style variable rewards as products that share “the speculative features of gambling” and therefore need clear information on probabilities.
In other words, a Spanish, Swedish or Maltese licence would still be the gateway to the market, but the way an operator designs autoplay, session prompts, personalised offers or influencer campaigns could fall under a directly applicable EU regulation.
Penalties, as drafted
Member states would set the penalties, which would have to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. For widespread infringements dealt with under the CPC framework, the proposal says the maximum fine must be at least 4% of the trader’s annual turnover in the member state or states concerned, or at least €2 million where turnover figures are not available. Where the Commission itself investigates an infringement under the proposed new CPC Regulation, Article 35(6) of the Digital Fairness Act proposal would allow it to impose fines “not exceeding 6% of the trader’s worldwide annual turnover”.
Those figures are ceilings and minimum maxima in a draft text. They would apply only if the regulation, and the accompanying CPC revision, are adopted in something like the present form.
Who is affected
For licensed operators serving EU customers, the immediate effect is political and legal rather than operational: the Commission has now put a text on the table that would sit on top of national gambling rulebooks. For players, the stated aim is a right to switch off certain engagement features, clearer prices, and a tighter grip on personalised ads aimed at minors. For platforms and affiliates that promote gambling, the influencer-disclosure and dark-pattern rules would be as relevant as they are for the operator’s own site.
The proposal sits beside national advertising and product rules that are already tightening, including Bulgaria’s draft advertising ban, Spain’s deposit limits and payment checks, and the UK’s 2025-26 gambling reforms, which remain a separate, non-EU regime.
What happens next
The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the Council. Under the draft, the regulation would enter into force on the twentieth day after publication in the Official Journal and would apply 12 months after that. Both the wording and the timetable can change in negotiations. Until a final text is adopted and applies, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive remains the main EU instrument.
Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. Anyone worried about their own or someone else’s gambling should use official national support services. In EU countries those services are designated by each member state.
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