Schleswig-Holstein Rejects Gambling Demolition Bill
24 Feb, 2012
Schleswig-Holstein’s laws have been approved by the European Commission, it pointed out, while the Interstate Treaty of the other 15 German Lander have “faced stern criticism” from local and EU stakeholders.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Stewart analyst Michael Campbell said German market leader Bwin.Party stood to lose the most from Schleswig-Holstein moving towards the “more restrictive tax regime” of 5 percent on turnover agreed by the other 15 Lander.
During the debate Social Democrat MP Uli Schippels said there was a “gold rush mentality” among the nearly 200 companies which visited Schleswig-Holstein last month to pool ideas on how to make it the “Las Vegas of the north”.
Green MPs, which voted in line with the Social Democrats, said the region should wait until the Interstate Treaty comes back from the European Commission.
“If the EU does not find the 15 states’ treaty EU-law compliant, then the 15 states should correct it, and after that we could join,” Green MP Monika Heinold said.
She added it was not “fair” to approve an act before Schleswig-Holstein’s elections on May 6 and issue licences which cannot be withdrawn without racking up multi-million euro liabilities
Munich-based lawyer Wulf Hambach of Hambach & Hambach said the CDU-FDP coalition would “press for licences to be out before the election” to finish off their work.
For the Social Democrats, Hambach said, the failure of their bill has left their “hands tied” if the European Commission does not approve the Interstate Treaty.
The Social Democrats, which boast seven of Germany’s 16 regional presidents, are the most vociferous opponents of opening up online gambling at the national level.
Yesterday MPs from the governing coalition zeroed in on the Social Democrat mayor of Schleswig-Holstein’s capital Kiel, Torsten Albig, for holding talks with Betfair about sponsoring the Kiel Regatta.
Some of Europe’s largest online gambling operators have snapped up sponsorship deals in Schleswig-Holstein ahead of the market opening.
In November, Bwin agreed to sponsor handball champions THW Kiel. Weeks later lower league football side VfB Lübeck changed its stadium name to the “PokerStars.de at the Lohmühle Stadium”.
