At their annual ministerial conference in Warnemünde, German lawmakers outlined proposals for an interstate agreement for a new national gambling framework.
Under the plans, Germany’s 16 states will work together to repeal the country’s 2012 gambling act – the cause of much interstate friction and the architect of today’s fragmented German i-gaming market – and replace it with a treaty for gambling that is focused on the effective regulation of online gambling and betting.
The initiative looks certain to put an end to the licensing system launched by the Hesse ministry in 2014, which offered 20 online sports betting operator licences.
The Hesse system had not met with the approval of European Court of Justice competition standards and was rejected by the ECJ in October 2015.
In the Warnemünde statement, German legislators said the new system would meet both EU and competition rules.
