title: Austria — Outlook: What is coming? | advennt.io canonical: https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/austria/outlook/ [Jurisdictions](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/) [Austria](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/austria/) Outlook Austria · Question 11 of 11 # Outlook: What is coming? Mixed · Probable · Expert approved · 5 post-review updates · Not reviewed · In expert review scope · [Back to full Austria report →](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/austria/) Key section parameters | Jurisdiction | Austria (AT) | |---|---| | Regulator | Recorded in register | | Favourability | Mixed | | Confidence | Probable | | Review status | Expert approved · 5 post-review updates · Not reviewed · In expert review scope | | Last collected | 18 Oct 2026 | Summary answer The future development of gambling and betting in Austria will be influenced by various factors. On the one hand, ongoing digitalisation and technological progress will likely continue to lead to an increased focus on online gambling and betting. Virtual reality and augmented reality could create ne… Not reviewed Information added after the 26 Aug 2026 expert review — published for currency and labelled not reviewed. 28 Sep 2026 Not reviewed The draft GSpG amendment (Gambling Reform Act 2026) was notified to the European Commission under the TRIS mechanism around 4 August 2026, opening a mandatory three-month standstill running to 5 November 2026, before which final adoption cannot occur. This follows a public consultation period on the draft that closed 15 July 2026. Industry commentary flags political-process risk to the government's own target of a market opening around October 2027, with at least one quoted political analyst expressing skepticism that licences could realistically issue within twelve months of adoption as the government intends. The reform, if adopted, would end the decades-old online monopoly in favour of an unrestricted multi-licence system, while retaining a single reserved concession for classic lottery. The TRIS standstill outcome and the pace of subsequent parliamentary adoption are the key near-term milestones to watch. 21 Sep 2026 Not reviewed Austria's draft GSpG overhaul closed public consultation on 15 July 2026 and was notified to the European Commission under the TRIS procedure on 4 August 2026, triggering a mandatory three-month standstill period. The government's working assumption is a possible market opening around October 2027, contingent on the TRIS process and subsequent licensing timeline proceeding without disruption — a timeline a political analyst has publicly contested. The reform represents the most significant liberalisation of Austrian gambling law in more than three decades, and its progression through EU review is the single most consequential near-term marker for the jurisdiction. 19 Sep 2026 Not reviewed The Austrian gambling reform followed a defined sequence this cycle: Ministerialentwurf published 29 June 2026; public consultation closed 15 July 2026 with 109 submissions; TRIS notification to the European Commission on 4 August 2026 triggering a standstill period to 5 November 2026; and government bill 594 d.B. before the Finanzausschuss as of 12 August 2026, not yet assigned to a Nationalrat plenary session. Each stage is confirmed by primary BMF or Parliament sources. The reform is at an advanced but not yet enacted stage, with the TRIS standstill closure on 5 November 2026 the next material gating event before parliamentary passage can proceed. 4 Sep 2026 Not reviewed Regierungsvorlage 594 d.B. is before the Nationalrat Finanzausschuss as of 12 August 2026. The EU TRIS standstill, triggered on 4 August 2026, runs approximately three months, during which the law cannot be formally adopted; the earliest plausible adoption point is therefore early November 2026. Beyond enactment, the reform carries two further staged dates: the payment-blocking and Sperrregister enforcement instruments are slated to enter force on 1 January 2027, and stricter player-protection rules affecting existing slot machines are deferred to 1 January 2031 to preserve the reliance interests of existing licensees. This is an actively moving reform with a well-defined near-term legislative calendar, and its outcome will determine whether Austria's online-gambling market opens to multi-licensing as proposed. 28 Aug 2026 Not reviewed The Federal Ministry of Finance's EC TRIS notification on 4 August 2026 opened a mandatory three-month EU standstill period ending 5 November 2026, the clearest reform-stage transition tracked this cycle: the draft Glücksspielgesetz overhaul has moved from leaked-draft and consultation stage to formal EU review. Austria's domestic parliamentary process continues in parallel and must still run its course before enactment. The reform, if enacted as notified, would replace the Win2Day online monopoly with an open licensing framework and cap land-based casino concessions at a maximum of 13. Confidence on these draft-law claims is capped at the assessed tier, since no direct T1 EC or BMF source was retrieved this cycle, a structural sourcing ceiling typical of pre-enactment legislative-phase reporting. ## Full section analysis The future development of gambling and betting in Austria will be influenced by various factors. On the one hand, ongoing digitalisation and technological progress will likely continue to lead to an increased focus on online gambling and betting. Virtual reality and augmented reality could create new immersive gambling experiences and drive the growth of the industry. In particular, it is to be expected that the legislator will also regulate the extremely sensitive area of loot boxes, which is currently not explicitly governed. Finally, the increasing popularity of Prediction Markets may increase regulatory attention on online betting, particularly with regard to social and political bets. It should be noted that attempts to re-regulate Austria's gambling sector have been repeated and ongoing for some time. The creation of an independent gambling regulator, for example, which is part of the current coalition's governing plan, has been on the agenda of previous regimes. In addition to this potential new regulator, the recent reports suggest that the coalition has reached an agreement to expand the availability of online gambling licences. Whether this plan will lead to an uncapped number of licences or only a handful, this could represent a major change to the Austrian gambling market, which currently only allows a single legal provider of online gambling services. The limited number of licences for brick-and-mortar casinos will likely remain unchanged. So far, however, the only reforms that have been successfully adopted have been considerable tax hikes for various forms of gambling and betting. As explained above, the case law of the High Courts has also developed very much to the disadvantage of operators licenced in the EU, so that they are faced with great legal uncertainty. In particular, the recent Supreme Court and CJEU case law regarding the tortious liability of managing directors is another major setback for gambling operators. This is flanked by repeated (but so far unsuccessful) efforts to block the IP addresses of operators not licenced in Austria, which the current government plan endorses as the primary solution to combat unlicensed providers. As a result, it cannot be assumed from the current perspective that legislation or case law in the area of gambling will turn significantly in favour of a more liberal market order. However, the potential increase in online gambling licences is a step in that direction. There is an inherent risk that the authorities, which have been rather passive to date, will intensify their enforcement efforts in the gambling sector to prevent the provision of services by operators who are not licenced in Austria and are thus considered illegal from the legislator’s perspective. At the international level, adverse developments are also emerging. Several preliminary ruling procedures before the CJEU may significantly affect enforcement: The recently decided C-77/24 Wunner upheld the Austrian Supreme Court's expansion of liability for unlicensed gambling to liability of operators' managing directors in tort. This judgment allows Austrian players to reclaim gambling losses from unlicensed providers even through obstacles like insolvency or legislation like Malta's Bill 55. The pending case C-683/24 Sigma, on the other hand, may completely abolish the protections provided by Bill 55, allowing players to directly enforce judgments against providers based in Malta. In addition, the infringement procedure initiated against Malta on 18 June 2025 increases political pressure from the European Commission to ensure the enforcement of Austrian court decisions, a demand also strongly supported by the German and Austrian governments. In the area of betting, on the other hand, a more nuanced picture emerges – following several years of active legislative development, quite modern betting laws have now emerged. As already described above, those laws are not identical; however, certain regulations – for example tying licensing requirements to physical presence – have been established in several Austrian provinces, as well as AML requirements stemming from EU requirements. There have been some recent developments at the level of the High Courts: It was ruled, as described above, that if a betting law only regulates the offering, conclusion or mediation of bets within the territory of the respective province, betting offered by a betting operator from a location outside the provincial territory via the Internet does not fall under the licensing regime of that law. Accordingly, the High Courts are generally more restrained in their approach to betting compared to gambling, as this area has been liberalised. The latest rulings have given betting operators a degree of legal certainty, and it can be expected that the betting sector will continue to develop positively for the time being. In recent years, there have also been efforts from some quarters to create a uniform betting law, but this has not yet borne fruit and is not currently foreseeable due to the resistance of the provinces. In summary, the outlook remains uncertain: While gambling will probably remain monopolised and thus inaccessible to foreign operators, there is always the fear that more frequent enforcement actions will take place in the future. The outlook for betting, on the other hand, is positive, as the most recent High Court decisions have strengthened the foundations of a liberal offering and no deterioration of the same is to be expected at present.