The “reform” of the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling – Deemed to fail?
Leading German Gaming law experts have discussed the reform of the German State Treaty on Gambling with representatives of the press in Berlin. The experts’ verdict regarding the new regulatory regime was as unanimous as it was devastating:
The new Interstate Treaty will not prevail. The required EU-coherence principle will not be met and new treaty violation proceedings by the EU commission against Germany are predictable.
Online-Poker is one of the best examples that illustrates that the current regulation in Germany has failed and that and the future gaming regulation will fail again. Despite the total prohibition of online poker, Germany became the second largest poker market worldwide. Nonetheless, all German states, except Schleswig-Holstein, see no reason to regulate this existing market. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of poker players have been pushed into a black or grey market. As a result, problem gamblers are left alone without player protective measures and the German states lose millions in potential tax revenues.
Read the full version of the German article here.
