Dutch legislators going through the motions on gambling reform

The Dutch House of Representatives has adopted a series of motions around gambling over the past two weeks, including calling for more research into the gambling age limit.

In the latest round of votes this week, the House approved an amended motion submitted by MPs Rosemarijn Dral and Marieke Wijen-Nas, respective members of the People’s Party and the Farmer–Citizen Movement.

The motion calls for the State Secretary for Legal Protection, Teun Struycken, to properly investigate whether or not raising the age limit for playing ‘risky games of chance’ from 18 years to 21 years would benefit the black market.

In February, Struycken announced a series of proposed reforms to the Gambling Act (KOA Act), which re-regulated the Dutch online gambling market in 2021. This included the proposal of increasing the age limit for certain casino products.

The reforms have been broadly welcomed by stakeholders amid rising public and political concerns about gambling visibility in the Netherlands si..