European Court turns down German gaming constraints

8 September 2010

German gaming restrictions breach European Union law, the EU's highest court has ruled.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated German laws that secure state monopolies for betting were "unjustifiable".

The ruling could break the ice for foreign betting companies to develop an existence in Germany.

A lobby group representing gambling companies, including PartyGaming and Bwin, called the judgement a "landmark".

German authorities have actually validated betting monopolies by saying that they help secure customers from the unfavorable results of gaming.

But the ECJ said this was inconsistent with Germany's promo and "intensive marketing" of its gaming operations.

The court stated: "The German guidelines on sporting bets constitute a constraint on the liberty to supply services and the flexibility of facility.

"The public monopoly of the organisation of sporting bets and lottery games in Germany does not pursue the objective of combating the yohaig code threats of betting in a consistent and methodical manner."

Several foreign betting business, consisting of Britain's Happy Bet and Gibraltar's Digibet, brought a case versus German local authorities in Hesse and northern Schleswig-Holstein.

The European Gaming and Betting Association invited the judgment.

"this promotion code is a landmark ruling which will have a definitive influence on the much-needed reform in Germany," it said in a statement.

"Other member states have opened or are opening their markets. They reveal that consumers can be much better secured in a market that is both regulated and open up to competitors," it said.

However, European Lotteries, a lobby group for nationwide lottery games in 40 countries, challenged whether the yohaig code ruling would open up the German market.

"On the contrary," the group said in a declaration, "the court reminded Germany that it needs to control more strictly the yohaig code bet9ja's welcome offer of hazardous types of gambling such as casino games and gaming devices.

"The court pointed again to the higher risks related to web betting."

EGBA

European Lotteries