The National Rapporteur on Addiction, Addiction Studies Netherlands and the Dutch mental health care sector have called on Dutch MPs to adopt tougher gambling controls ahead of the Gambling Committee Debate scheduled for 3 September 2026.
The organisations argue that gambling-related harm is increasing despite existing consumer protection measures, with particular concern over the impact of online gambling on young adults and other vulnerable groups.
In a joint letter to the House of Representatives, they propose a complete ban on gambling advertising, raising the minimum gambling age to 21 and strengthening supervision of licensed online gambling operators.
The intervention comes as the Netherlands continues to reassess its regulated online gambling market, which launched in October 2021 under the Remote Gambling Act.
While the framework was designed to channel players from unlicensed websites to regulated operators, it has been followed by tighter restrictions as policymakers respond to concerns over gambling participation and player harm.
The Kansspelautoriteit's latest market monitoring showed the online sector generated gross gaming result of €602m ($704.3m) during the second half of 2025.
The regulator also estimated that around 500,000 people gambled online each month, with young adults representing 22% of player accounts despite accounting for only 9.3% of the adult population.
The Dutch Government has already outlined plans for a further overhaul of gambling legislation.
In June 2026, State Secretary for Legal Protection Teun Struycken confirmed proposals to make preventing gambling harm the central objective of gambling policy, introduce a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising, prohibit gambling bonuses and examine whether limiting the number of online licences could strengthen consumer protection.
Advertising has remained one of the most debated areas since market regulation. The Netherlands has already prohibited untargeted gambling advertising across television, radio and public spaces, while sports sponsorship restrictions came fully into force in 2025.
Health organisations argue that further restrictions are required because digital marketing can still reach vulnerable consumers.
The organisations also warned that both gambling participation and demand for treatment services are increasing.
Addiction Studies Netherlands is a member of the national Partnership for Early Detection of Harm Caused by Gambling (SVSG), which focuses on identifying gambling-related harm earlier and preventing problems from escalating.
The latest intervention follows VNLOK's publication of its first Responsible Gambling Monitor, which reported that affiliated operators issued more than 1.2 million behavioural pop-up notifications, completed 75,391 affordability checks and temporarily excluded players more than 60,000 times during 2025.
The Netherlands already operates the Cruks national self-exclusion register, which prevents registered players from accessing licensed online gambling operators and land-based venues
