Germany

[DE] Minister-Presidents’ Conference Approves Draft GlüStV

IRIS 2011-6:1/14

Peter Matzneller

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

At a special conference held on 6 April 2011, the Prime Ministers of the Länder approved the draft amendment to the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Gambling Agreement - GlüStV), which is currently valid until the end of 2011.

A key aspect of the draft is an experimental clause, valid initially for seven years, under which seven national sports betting licences will be granted. The extent to which the objectives of the licensing system have been achieved will be evaluated five years after it comes into force. The licence fee will be 16.66% of all stakes. Licence-holders must undertake not to offer betting services that are illegal in Germany and only to allow live betting on final results.

Although the Prime Ministers thought that shirt and perimeter advertising for sports betting should be allowed, advertisements for sports betting will not be permitted on television nor in connection with sports broadcasts. This rule will be reassessed after five years.

Under the draft, Internet sites offering casino games will only be allowed in relation to real games being played in a licensed casino, and may only be run by such casinos.

After the draft had been distributed on various websites, criticism was immediately directed at one particular provision, under which the gambling supervisory authorities may prohibit service providers from (responsibly) helping to provide access to unauthorised gambling services. In the critics’ opinion, this renewed attempt to block access to certain Internet content ignored the debate over the proportionality of such measures. This subject had already been discussed in relation to the Zugangserschwerungsgesetz (Act on Access Obstruction), which has since been overturned by the CDU/CSU and FDP coalition committee (see IRIS 2011-5/19).