A breakthrough in the new State Treaty for gambling in Germany has been made, according to the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The new model would preserve the country’s lottery monopoly, while also permitting online casino. Sports betting is already legal here and this wouldn’t change.
Productive talks
The 16 Federal States of Germany have been discussing ways that more coherent gambling legislation can be agreed for the long-term. At the moment, online casino is only permitted in Schleswig-Holstein. This state borders the country’s second-largest city, Hamburg, but doesn’t include it.
But according to Schleswig-Holstein, the new agreed model is a “really good result” for the whole country.
In addition to online casino, operators will be able to apply for slots and poker licences too. Meanwhile, a new governing body will be formed to handle this and for the sake of law enforcement.
A new regulator, but still some individual freedom
Full regulatory details haven’t been released, but will include a range of player protection rules. It has also been mentioned that while national licences will be issued by this authority, each state will be able to implement their own online casino controls.
Dirk Schrödter, Head of the Schleswig-Holstein State Chancellory, was happy with how these talks have panned out. In his opinion, the agreed laws would “be the basis for a sufficiently attractive online gambling offering, to ensure the channeling of gambling into the legal market”.
Schrödter also believes that these new regulations would help to quash the country’s black market.
Despite the current regulatory landscape, online gambling in Germany was worth €3 billion in November 2019. Many players wager outside of Schleswig-Holstein, since they’re rarely prosecuted if they use an EU operator.
Germany expects to have a full regulatory framework completed by the summer of 2021. In the meantime, there will be interim laws for operators here.
