Germany proposes new gambling treaty amendments to EU officials

German government officials appear intent on amending the country’s controversial sports betting regulatory provisions, notifying European Union courts of wholesale changes to its ‘State Treaty on Games of Chance’.

Pressed by industry stakeholders and sports bodies, German regulators have drafted a ‘Second State Treaty’ with the purpose of amending current gambling regulations.

Notifying EU officials, the proposed treaty aims to rectify legislative and regulatory provisions previously rejected by the European Court of Justice on the grounds of failing to meet EU competition standards and creating unfair business conditions for international enterprises.

Sports betting legislative reform is central to treaty amendments, with new concessions lifting the controversial twenty license cap put forward by the Hesse Ministry in 2015.

This October following the German ministerial conference in Warnemünde government officials declared that an interstate agreement had been reached to work on creating a new national gambling framework.

Following the conference, the state of Hesse no longer commands the directive of national sports betting provisions.

Treaty amendments will now be reviewed by EU officials who will implement a notification procedure until February next year. German sports betting stakeholders are reported to want to implement treaty law before the end of 2017.