Brussels Casino: Khattabi Questions Fiscal Returns for Region
Brussels regional deputy Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo) is demanding answers from the Brussels government about the fiscal implications of the casino concession award, following the Council of State’s suspension of the decision to grant the contract to Napoleon Games. The move comes as the RTBF reported that Khattabi is questioning whether regional authorities were aware of elements in the bidding process that could affect regional tax revenues.
The Fiscal Question at the Heart of the Dispute
At the center of Khattabi’s concern is Napoleon Games’ commitment to transfer its headquarters and IT servers related to its online gambling activities to the Brussels Region as part of its winning bid. The Council of State deemed this criterion foreign to the purpose of the concession and completely unpredictable for other candidates when preparing their offers, as RTBF detailed.
For the Region, the presence of these servers on its territory could represent significant additional tax revenue. Under Belgian law, online gambling tax is based on the location of the server that receives bets, not where players are located. This makes server location a direct determinant of which regional government collects the gambling tax.
“Since an element valued in the procedure could simultaneously have consequences on the Region’s revenues, we need to know whether the Brussels government was aware of it, whether it had assessed its effects, and whether exchanges took place on this subject with the City of Brussels or other actors in the case,” Khattabi said, as quoted by 7sur7.
A Regional Fiscal Strategy Under Scrutiny
The Brussels Region maintains its online gambling tax at 11 percent, while Wallonia charges 15 percent and Flanders has sought to move to the same level. A tri-regional agreement aimed to align all regions at 15 percent, but Brussels chose not to follow it. As Les Enjeux analyzed, this creates a fiscal advantage for operators who locate their servers in Brussels, potentially siphoning tax revenue from other regions while increasing the value of the A+ online gambling license attached to the casino concession.
Khattabi will question Brussels minister for Local Authorities Ahmed Laaouej (PS) and Finance Minister Dirk De Smedt (Anders) about what the regional government knew about the procedure and what assessment it made of the fiscal implications.
Council of State Suspends the Award
The Council of State suspended on Monday the City of Brussels’ decision to award the 15-year casino concession to ECK NV, the company behind the Napoleon Games brand, following an appeal by current operator Viage. The concession is valued at approximately 750 million euros, and the current license expires on 31 December 2026.
The court identified an apparent inaccuracy in the assessment of certain partnerships invoked by ECK, particularly letters of recommendation from sports clubs rather than firm commitments. It also found that EU regulations on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market were not respected, as La Libre reported. Only 3.28 points separated Napoleon Games (91.02) from Viage (87.74) in the evaluation.
The City of Brussels now faces three options: re-motivate its decision, re-evaluate the bids, or restart the entire procedure. Any option could face further legal challenges, according to La Libre/Belga.
Broader Conflict of Interest Controversy
The fiscal questions come amid a broader controversy surrounding the casino award. Ecolo opposition leader at the Brussels communal council, Benoît Hellings, has accused Mayor Philippe Close of a conflict of interest, noting that Close serves as a board member of RSC Anderlecht, whose principal sponsor is Napoleon Games. As RTBF covered, Hellings filed a notification of presumed violation of the City’s new Code of Ethics and Deontology.
“It’s indecent, given his links with this company, Napoleon, in another board of directors he’s part of,” Hellings said. “It’s not right. It’s very bad for municipal finances, it’s very bad for the image of the City of Brussels. You don’t buy the city of Brussels, especially when it comes to gambling.”
The Council of State’s ruling did not address the conflict of interest question, as it could not be examined in the extreme urgency procedure. The GamblingClub.be analysis noted that even if the suspension stands, it does not automatically mean Viage would become the new concessionaire.
What’s Next
With the current license expiring on 31 December 2026, the City of Brussels faces a tight timeline to resolve the legal challenges. Khattabi’s parliamentary questions will add political pressure on the regional government to clarify its role in the process and assess the potential fiscal windfall from the server relocation.
As Les Enjeux observed, the case has broader implications beyond Brussels, potentially affecting how European municipalities handle large concession awards involving operators backed by non-European capital. The fiscal dimension Khattabi has raised also highlights the complex interplay between regional tax competition and major public concessions in Belgium’s gambling sector.
Zakia Khattabi, a former federal minister of Climate and Environment and former co-president of Ecolo, has been a Brussels regional deputy since February 2025, according to her Wikipedia profile. Her intervention signals that the casino controversy is far from resolved, with both fiscal and ethical dimensions likely to continue dominating Brussels political discourse in the coming weeks.