Financing education, digital skills and youth policies through a possible new EU own resource from the online gambling sector

Question for oral answer O-000014/2026
to the Commission
Rule 142
Victor Negrescu (S&D), René Repasi (S&D), Bruno Gonçalves (S&D), Lara Wolters (S&D), Maria Grapini (S&D), Ştefan Muşoiu (S&D), Matthias Ecke (S&D), Andi Cristea (S&D), Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus (S&D), Marc Angel (S&D), Kristian Vigenin (S&D), Gabriela Firea (S&D), Christophe Clergeau (S&D), Dragoş Benea (S&D), Chloé Ridel (S&D), Marcos Ros Sempere (S&D), Nils Ušakovs (S&D), Jean-Marc Germain (S&D), Vasile Dîncu (S&D), Biljana Borzan (S&D), Elio Di Rupo (S&D), Gheorghe Cârciu (S&D), Hannes Heide (S&D), Ewa Kopacz (PPE), Mircea-Gheorghe Hava (PPE), Inese Vaidere (PPE), Radan Kanev (PPE), Pasquale Tridico (The Left), Carolina Morace (The Left), Dario Tamburrano (The Left), Mario Furore (The Left), Sebastian Everding (The Left), Nela Riehl (Verts/ALE), Tilly Metz (Verts/ALE), Anna Strolenberg (Verts/ALE), Vlad Vasile-Voiculescu (Renew), Nikola Minchev (Renew), Eugen Tomac (Renew), Ciaran Mullooly (Renew), Georgiana Teodorescu (ECR), Cristian Terheş (ECR), Lukas Sieper (NI), Katarína Roth Neveďalová (NI)

Education, digital skills, youth policies and mental health are strategic investments for the Union's competitiveness, social cohesion and democratic resilience. In the context of the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), ensuring stable and future-oriented financing for these priorities is essential.

At the same time, the gambling and betting sector has become increasingly digital and cross-border. It benefits from the internal market and the Union's digital infrastructure, while national regulatory and taxation frameworks remain fragmented. This situation may create distortions in the internal market and complicate coordinated action against illegal and unlicensed operators.

Within the ongoing debate in the European Parliament on new own resources and the future financing of EU priorities, the possibility of a harmonised EU approach to the online gambling sector, including the option of a targeted levy, has been raised as a way to strengthen the Union's revenue base and support investment in education, digital skills, youth policies, mental health and addiction prevention. Based on data from Parliament's Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, such a levy could enable the European Union to collect between EUR 2 billion and EUR 4 billion every year, reaching nearly EUR 28 billion for the entire MFF period.

In this context, the Commission is asked:

• 1.When preparing the next MFF and the package on new own resources under Articles 113 and 311 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, will the Commission assess the feasibility, added value and legal basis of introducing a harmonised EU-level levy on online gambling and betting services, including options for ensuring transparency and effective enforcement to prevent illegal activities across the internal market?
• 2.How does the Commission intend to secure stable and predictable EU-level financing for education, digital skills, youth policy and prevention in the next MFF, and is it prepared, as part of this effort, to consider contributions from rapidly expanding sectors, such as online gambling and betting, that make use of the single market without being regulated?

The objective of this question is to facilitate a structured institutional debate on sustainable and fair sources of financing for the Union's long-term strategic priorities.

Submitted: 11.3.2026

Lapses: 12.6.2026