State leaders in Germany sign off on new gambling legislation

The governors of Germany’s 16 states have reportedly signed off on proposed legislation that has been designed to inaugurate a new nationwide regulatory framework for lottery, sportsbetting, gaming hall and iGaming establishments.

According to a Monday report from iGamingBusiness.com, the leaders gave their collective consent to the proposed New State Treaty on Gambling (GluNeuRStV) late last week during a remote meeting chaired from Berlin after approving a draft of the measure in March. The source detailed that the officials will now attempt to get the proposition ratified by the legislatures of at least 13 German states so as to be able to embark on implementation from the first day of July.

Essential endorsement:

The proposed GluNeuRStV would reportedly legalize iGaming across Germany and require licensed operators to implement a wide range of operational and player protection measures such as a maximum single stake slot limit of €1 ($1.18) and a limit on in-play sportsbetting to next goal scorer and final markets only. The proposed legislation would also purportedly oblige online casino operators to remove live-dealer games, limit punters to a maximum of €1,000 ($1,185) in monthly deposits and institute cooling-off periods.

Abiding authority:

Regarding lottery and the projected GluNeuRStV reportedly calls for states to have their existing monopolies extended while moreover possibly allowing for this domination to be extended to a range of lucrative table games. Jurgen Hafner serves as Chairman for the Deutscher Lotto und Totoblock (DLTB) trade group and he purportedly hailed the new legislation in advance of proclaiming that its approval showed that the current federal regulatory model ‘works very well.’

Reportedly read a statement from Hafner…

“DLTB members will continue to follow the legal requirements of the State Treaty and continue to offer a safe product range for those interested in gambling.”

Cooperation coup:

For land-based establishments located across Germany and the envisioned GluNeuRStV will reportedly furthermore allow states to issue multiple licenses for slot and gaming halls while remaining in charge of their own minimum distancing requirements. Georg Stecker, spokesperson for the Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft (DAW) trade group, purportedly welcomed last week’s approval following ‘years of intensive negotiations’ before noting that the planned measure is destined to see qualitative criteria applied to the licensing process for the first time.

Stecker’s statement read…

“Now it is important that the federal states rely on the quality of amusement arcades when implementing the contract, both on the subject of multiple concessions and the minimum distances between venues.”