"An EU company for gambling operations" — the market uses this phrase for two different things, and telling them apart is this page's main task. The first is a myth: that a "European gambling licence" exists which, once obtained, works across the Union. In the European Commission's own wording, it does not: there is no sector-specific EU legislation in the field of gambling services, and member states are autonomous in the way they organise their gambling services. The second is reality: a company incorporated in an EU member state and licensed under that state's national regime. This page is about the second: how a member state is chosen, what its licence gives, and what this means for a Georgian group.
Two official quotations stand at the edge of this page, and everything is built on them. The Commission: there is no sector-specific EU legislation in the field of gambling services; and under EU law no particular system is favoured over the others. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board (EMTA): a licence of an EEA country does not give you the right to offer gambling in Estonia — and vice versa. Mutual recognition, in other words, does not work: one member state's licence means nothing in the next. Everything about an "EU company" in gambling therefore begins with a question: which member state?
The criteria for choosing a member state
The picture confirmed by the Commission is this: a growing number of member states have established licensing systems allowing more than one operator; some maintain monopolies; and EU law favours no particular system over the others. Choosing a member state is therefore a comparison of concrete regimes on five parameters: eligibility requirements (who may apply), minimum capital, fees, activity restrictions (for example "gambling only" rules), and the conditions of market access. On this page you have two officially countable bookends — Malta and Estonia — and their comparison shows exactly how far apart the members are.
Estonia — a fully countable example
Estonia's regime is one of the few whose every core number is officially published by the Tax and Customs Board (EMTA), and everything below comes from there. The system has two stages: an activity licence for organising gambling, issued for an indefinite term, and an operating permit per location or channel — a remote (online) permit is issued for up to five years, a toto permit for up to twenty. The applicant may be a public limited company or a private limited company registered in Estonia or in the European Union. Minimum capital depends on the type of games: €1,000,000 for games of chance; €130,000 for toto; €25,000 for games of skill. State fees: for the activity licence €47,940 (games of chance), €31,960 (toto) and €3,200 (games of skill); €3,200 per operating permit. Decision deadlines: four months for the licence, two months for the permit.
The Estonian example makes two further details plain. First: the law requires gambling to be the company's only activity — diversification with a "side" business does not work in this regime; lotteries, meanwhile, are the monopoly of a state-owned company. Second: Estonia also maintains a register of blocked gambling websites under its Gambling Act — an indication of how a national regime protects its own market, and of why the hope of "working everywhere with one licence" is unfounded.
Malta — the second bookend, and the link to a Georgian group
The Maltese regime is analysed in detail on our separate page, but in the context of member-state selection one of its conditions is decisive: in the MGA's official wording, any company incorporated in the EU/EEA is eligible to apply. The comparative picture shapes up as follows: Estonia is open at once to Estonian and other EU companies, imposes the "gambling only" rule and a million-euro capital for games of chance; Malta requires an EU/EEA form, offers capital tiered by game type (from €40,000 to €240,000) and a ten-year licence. Both sets of numbers are official — which is exactly why they are compared in one table here and not through agents' decks. For a Georgian group, both routes begin with the same structural step: incorporating a European subsidiary that becomes the licensee.
The Georgian cross-border layer
An EU member state's licence works only within the borders of the state that issues it — even in Europe; on the Georgian market it means nothing at all. Article 5, part 1 of the Georgian law on gambling ties organising and supplying into Georgia to a Georgian permit, and article 11, part 2 grants that permit only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia. A Georgian-European dual structure therefore always runs two separate legal contours: the European licence for European markets, the Georgian permit for the Georgian one — and, where needed, both simultaneously.
The articles of the Georgian layer: article 80, part 7 of the Tax Code — margin taxation of an individual organiser; article 81 — the rates, including the 5% line; article 8 — player winnings and loss offsetting; article 171(b) — VAT exemption of gambling services. Reporting: articles 3, 11 and 12 of the AML law where a Georgian entity is in the chain; article 29(b) of the gambling law — winnings registration with reporting to the Financial Monitoring Service; article 36-1 — the selected-person regime for system-electronic supply. And articles 951 and 952 of the Civil Code: a claim arises only from a permitted game.
Frequently asked questions
Four questions repeat themselves on the EU-company theme.
Does a "European gambling licence" exist?
No. By the European Commission's official position there is no sector-specific EU legislation in gambling services; member states are autonomous in organising their regimes, and no system is favoured. The licence is always national.
Does one member state's licence work in another?
No — mutual recognition does not apply to gambling. In Estonia's official wording, a licence of an EEA country does not give you the right to offer gambling in Estonia, and vice versa. A target market's own member-state regime is chosen for each market.
What does an Estonian licence cost?
On the EMTA's official numbers: the state fee for the activity licence is €47,940 for games of chance, €31,960 for toto and €3,200 for games of skill; each operating permit adds €3,200. To this are added the capital minima: €1,000,000, €130,000 and €25,000 respectively.
Can Georgian owners obtain a licence through an EU company?
Yes — this is the standard route: a Georgian parent incorporates a subsidiary in a member state, and that subsidiary becomes the licensee. But the rules matter: in Estonia gambling must be the company's only activity; Malta requires an EU/EEA form. The structure is built together with its peculiarities.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Legal.ge starts the EU direction with the question that decides everything: which markets do you want, and which member state's regime fits them. We compare regimes on official parameters — eligibility, capital, fees, activity restrictions, market access; we build the European subsidiary structure that meets the chosen regime's requirements; we prepare the application and project the decision timelines; and in parallel we construct the Georgian layer — the tax and reporting plan of the dual structure's Georgian contour, under the relevant articles. An "EU company" in gambling is not a magic key — it is a decision that must be built on numbers and articles. Contact us, and we will start by matching your markets to the regimes.