{"id":14328,"date":"2026-10-22T13:06:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?p=14328"},"modified":"2026-10-22T13:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:06:54","slug":"cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/","title":{"rendered":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the <strong>Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)<\/strong>, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the controversial Maltese <strong>Bill 55<\/strong> on 19 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Introduced in June 2023, the bill provided for the addition of <strong>Article 56A<\/strong> to the <strong>Maltese Gaming Act<\/strong>. The provision would exempt Maltese courts from the obligation to recognise and enforce foreign court rulings. This includes cases in which an operator provides services in another EU country without a licence, even though such activity is permitted under Maltese law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Debates surrounding Bill 55 have continued for several years. One of the key issues is the enforcement of court rulings against operators active in grey and black markets, including those operating without the required licences in regulated jurisdictions or in territories where gambling is prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A significant number of industry stakeholders have already voiced opposition to Bill 55. Among its critics is <strong>Germany\u2019s gambling regulator, the Joint Gambling Authority of the L\u00e4nder (GGL).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proceedings before the <strong>Commercial Court of Vienna (Handelsgericht Wien) <\/strong>prompted a referral to the CJEU with questions concerning Bill 55\u2019s compatibility with European Union law. Austrian courts had ruled in favour of players on the grounds that the activities of foreign operators in the country were illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In considering the case, Maltese courts referred to free-market principles and EU rules guaranteeing the freedom to provide services. On this basis, they did not recognise the legal validity of the original Austrian court ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April, Bill 55 faced further criticism following an opinion delivered by CJEU Advocate General <strong>Nicholas Emiliou.<\/strong> He stated that a preliminary ruling on the bill\u2019s legality was inadmissible and unnecessary for resolving the case before the Austrian courts. Emiliou also described Bill 55 as \u201cmanifestly incompatible with the rules governing the recognition and enforcement of judgments\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Advocate General further stressed that court rulings issued in EU member states restricting players\u2019 access to services provided by Maltese online gambling operators must be recognised not only in Malta but also in other EU countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">iGaming industry stakeholders are awaiting the CJEU\u2019s ruling, which is due on 19 November. The outcome could influence the future development of online gambling across Europe and shape how European courts approach Malta\u2019s Bill 55.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t forget to subscribe to our <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/sbceurasia\">Telegram channel!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the controversial Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November. Introduced in June 2023, the bill provided for the addition of Article 56A to the Maltese Gaming Act. The provision would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,24,564],"tags":[2277,4852,13100,17362,840,6340,2927,3477,1094,335,340,16261,687,518],"class_list":["post-14328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gambling","category-news","category-regulations","category-slider","tag-austria","tag-bill-55","tag-cjeu","tag-court-rulings","tag-european-union","tag-gambling-legislation","tag-gambling-market","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-ggl","tag-licensing","tag-malta","tag-nicholas-emiliou","tag-online-gambling","tag-player-protection"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SBC EURASIA EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nika rostiashvili\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nika rostiashvili\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"nika rostiashvili\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\"},\"headline\":\"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Austria\",\"bill 55\",\"CJEU\",\"Court Rulings\",\"European Union\",\"gambling legislation\",\"gambling market\",\"Gambling Regulation\",\"GGL\",\"licensing\",\"Malta\",\"Nicholas Emiliou\",\"online gambling\",\"player protection\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gambling\",\"News\",\"Regulations\",\"slider\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\",\"name\":\"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\"},\"description\":\"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"SBC EURASIA EN\",\"description\":\"SBC EURASIA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\",\"name\":\"nika rostiashvili\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nika rostiashvili\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/author\/nika\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN","description":"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN","og_description":"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.","og_url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/","og_site_name":"SBC EURASIA EN","article_published_time":"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nika rostiashvili","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nika rostiashvili","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/"},"author":{"name":"nika rostiashvili","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0"},"headline":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict","datePublished":"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg","keywords":["Austria","bill 55","CJEU","Court Rulings","European Union","gambling legislation","gambling market","Gambling Regulation","GGL","licensing","Malta","Nicholas Emiliou","online gambling","player protection"],"articleSection":["Gambling","News","Regulations","slider"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/","url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/","name":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict - SBC EURASIA EN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-22T12:06:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-22T12:06:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0"},"description":"iGaming industry stakeholders will be closely watching proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Maltese Bill 55 on 19 November.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/EU-Law.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/cjeu-sets-date-for-malta-bill-55-verdict\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CJEU Sets Date for Malta Bill 55 Verdict"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/","name":"SBC EURASIA EN","description":"SBC EURASIA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0","name":"nika rostiashvili","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nika rostiashvili"},"url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/author\/nika\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14330,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14328\/revisions\/14330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}