Based on Dom’s quote of the news item – it’s not clear to me if the affiliate actually handled funds for the UK bookies – like bet runners would do – if they did, then it’s not a purely affiliate system being threatened.
EU is such a brilliant concept – the union’s laws offer a safe harbor to companies and individuals against the monopolies of states. It’s not easy enforcing EU laws and directives on all countries but still, there’s that legal shelter higher than the state laws. the price the state’s have to pay to be in the EU is to accept and abide by EU laws.