Schleswig-Holstein will not be joining Germany’s federal sports betting treaty until March at the earliest, after Malta lodged an opinion against the proposals with the European Commission, which also issued its own opinion.
The EC has now extended the statutory three-month standstill period set aside for review of Member States’ draft technical regulations by a further month, until 7 January 2013. While their content remains confidential, detailed opinions deal with potential and unjustified barriers to trade between EU Member States.
The Commission has issued its opinion against Schleswig-Holstein’s law approving its accession to the Interstate Gambling Treaty (ITG), while offshore gambling hub Malta has raised objections to Schleswig-Holstein’s legislation incorporating the provisions of the ITG into regional state law, on which the UK has also commented. Both were notified to the Commission in September following their approval by SH’s state parliament.
Schleswig-Holstein must now report back to the Commission on what action it proposes to take on the detailed opinions, and must not make the regulation for a total of six months from notification, or until March 2013.
SH is currently bound by the Gambling Act introduced by its predecessor government, which provides for the issue of unlimited licences for online betting, poker and casino based on a 20% gross profit tax. The new coalition government is looking to strip out this language and replace this with the provisions of the Interstate Gambling Treaty ratified by Germany’s other 15 federal states, under which 20 national licences for sports betting are set to be issued next year, taxed at 5% of stakes, with a national ban on the offer of online casino and poker.
The EC’s decision will increase pressure on Schleswig-Holstein to issue further licences under its Gambling Act, given it has admitted it is powerless to halt the licensing process while the law is still in place. SH has so far issued 15 licences for online sports betting, but has so far resisted legal action from bwin.party and MyBet aimed at securing additional permits for online casino, including poker.
Germany’ s Federal Court of Justice, in a hearing last month on the EC giving Germany two years to prove its sports betting-only regime does provide better protection for players than if online poker and casino were also licensed, suggested that the existence of two separate licensing regimes within Germany could breach EU rules. Unlike the G15 regime, Schleswig-Holstein’s current Gambling Act last year received the EC’s unqualified approval.
10/12/2012, 5:55 am