BELGIUM - Constitutional Court rules against discrimination between National Lottery and private operators

BELGIUM – Constitutional Court rules against discrimination between National Lottery and private operators

11th March 2026

This article is contributed by the Belgian Gaming Commission (the Commissie voor de Kansspelen / the Commission des Jeux de Hasard), a member of the Gambling Regulators European Forum.

Over the last couple of years, Belgium has introduced a set of new restrictions for gambling products.

Gambling operators are not allowed to advertise, except for the exceptions specifically permitted by Royal Decree.
Gambling operators are prohibited from offering gifts, bonuses, or other incentives intended to encourage gambling.
Online gambling must be separated by type. This means that, among other things, players need separate accounts to play casino games and to participate in sports betting.
The minimum age to participate has been raised to 21 years old for all forms of gambling, whereas it used to be 18 or 21 depending on the type of game.

Even though these measures are aimed at reducing the normalization of gambling and strengthening player protection, they are currently not applied universally. Products offered by the National Lottery remain exempt from these new rules. Several operators challenged these measures before the Constitutional Court, which has upheld most of these restrictions in a recent judgment (165/2025).

The Constitutional Court ruled that the exemption for the state operator is not justified. The Court reached this conclusion based on advice from the Belgian Gaming Commission. According to the regulator, some lotteries offered online have become increasingly gamified and are assuming audiovisual presentation elements of games that are offered by private operators. In doing so, some products of the National Lottery offer a gaming experience similar to other games of chance and merit additional protection measures.

The Constitutional Court has instructed the Belgian legislator to resolve these issues by 31 December 2026. The legislation applicable to private operators on one hand, and the state operator on the other hand, must ensure a level playing field in situations where both parties offer similar products.

Consequently, the Court has annulled the obligatory split between platforms offering different types of gambling introduced in the Gambling Act, as this measure does not mention lottery products that are similar to gambling. However, the annulment will not take effect until 31 December 2026, effectively giving the legislator one year to provide a solution.

The Court has not annulled the other restrictions introduced by the law (the minimum age, as well as the bans on advertising and incentives), as they do not stem from the Gambling Act directly but rather from a lack of similar measures in the law on the National Lottery, which was not the subject of the appeal. Instead, the Court has also ordered the legislator to resolve the current discrimination between the two laws by 31 December 2026.

Within GREF, the convergence between lotteries and other forms of gambling is monitored closely within the Digital & Innovation working group.