Summary of a discussion of the review programme created by Prof. Koenig and Meyer regarding horizontal coherency of the German gambling

By Bettina Brenner, LL.M., Hambach & Hambach Law Firm

As of February 8, 2013, all German federal states introduced legislation regulating games of chance, the so-called Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ITG). Despite this al- leged harmonised legal situation, the Gambling Reform Act Schleswig-Holstein (GRA SH) is still applicable for gaming operators who are in possession of the licence issued by the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Having significant differences in the level of opening the gaming market for private operators, this leads to incoherent gaming regulations in Germany. Exactly this explosive topic of horizontal coherency was re- cently raised by Prof. Koenig and Meyer. The question of horizontal coherency has al- so been discussed by the German Supreme Court, which submitted the question for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ, as well as the EU Commission.

The following article makes reference to the article by Prof. Koenig and Meyer and introduces several examples indicating that the current legal framework for gambling is in fact incoherent from a horizontal point of few, therefore contrary to the law of the EU and invalid. Further, the article briefly points out that contrary to the ITG the GRA SH has not been criticised by the EU Commission. It ends by showing that it would still be possible for Germany to adopt the GRA SH and to transfer all 64 licences that were issued under the GRA into a new legal framework.

The complete discussion by Bettina Brenner is available under the following link http://www.timelaw.de/cms/front_content.php?idart=944.

Source: TIME LAW NEWS 2/2013 (www.timelaw.de) Hambach & Hambach Law Firm