The chances of a new interstate treaty on gambling in Germany this year are receding fast amid the political turmoil in Berlin.
The collapse of Olaf Scholz’s coalitiion lsst November has led to a new general election set for February 23. Current forecasts suggest a new coalition between the Conservatives and the Soecial Democrats (CDU/CSU).
In any event, the planned fresh gambling regulations treaty, a Glücksspielstaatsvertrag between the 16 federal states, the Bundeslânder, is now very unlikely to appear before next year.
The German states effectively control the country’s gambling, both the arcades and the recently-introduced online gambling business, brought in two years ago in a bid to control the outflow of German euros into the hands of overseas and unregulated operators.
The strict application of the old treaty by the states has seen the number of arcades in Germany slashed and the number of gaming machines reduced from a ceiling of 250,000 to just 175,000. At the same time there has been a substantial growth in illegal gambling machines – uusally in ‘cafe-casinos’ and operated by immigrants – to 60,000.
The online gambling industry is also failing badly to attract German customers because the 16 states, with widely-differing views on what should be available to their public, has so watered down the offer that it fails to compete with that of illegal websites.
The industry had hoped that these issues would be tackled in fresh legislation at federal level, but work on a new treaty was suspended with the collapse of the coalition last year.
The resumption of work at federal level on gambling reform will therefore have to wait for the new coalition to clear its desk of other pressing legislation.
