Transcript Folie 1

Recent Developments in German
Gambling Law
1. Categories of Gambling: Market segments
and regulation
2. German Interstate Treaty on Gambling
3. Recent Developments
Categories of Gambling: Regulation
Gaming Machines:
• Gambling machines (Geldspielgeräte) in amusement
arcades and restaurants are regulated by federal law
by means of the § 33 Commerce Regulation Act
(Gewerbeordnung) and the technical specifications
by the Gaming Regulation (Spielverordnung).
• Slot machines (Glücksspielgeräte) in casinos are
regulated by the Federal State Implementation Laws
(Ausführungsgesetze der Bundesländer) coordinated
by the Interstate Treaty on Gambling
• States regulate casinos by their Federal State Laws
on Casinos (Spielbankengesetze der Bundesländer)
Categories of Gambling: Federal
and State Law
Gaming Machines:
• Gambling machines (Geldspielgeräte):
Federal Law
-> Regarded as a commerce law issue
• Slot machines (Glücksspielgeräte): Federal
State Laws
-> Regarded as a police law issue
Categories of Gambling:
Availability
Gaming Machines:
• 220.000 gambling machines
(Geldspielgeräte) in 8.000 amusement
arcades and in 60.000-70.000 restaurants
and hotels
• 8.600 slot machines (Glücksspielgeräte) in 82
casino saloons (Automatensäle)
Source: AWI: Unterschiede zwischen gewerblich betriebenen GGSG und Slot machines in den Spielbanken
Categories of Gambling: State
Monopoly Lotteries
Lotteries:
• State lotteries “6 aus 49” (Super 6, Spiel 77,
Glücksspirale) offered by the each of the States
• Scratch cards offered by the States
• Class lotteries offered by the northern States (NKL)
and the Southern states (SKL)
• Social lotteries (Fernsehlotterien) offered in
collaboration with the public television channels (ARD
and ZDF)
Categories of Gambling:
Availability
Lotteries:
• State lotteries including scratch cards offered
in 26.000 shops
• Class lotteries offered in some of these shops
and via mailing by private lottery collectors
(Lotterieeinnehmer) and the internet
• Social lotteries (Fernsehlotterien) offered at
the post offices, banks and some shops and
via the post and the internet
Categories of Gambling
Casino Games:
• Roulette
• Card Games (Baccarat, Black Jack, Poker)
• Illegal Internet casinos (turnover not known)
->No legal internet casinos
Categories of Gambling
Sports betting:
• horse betting offered by private bookmakers
• soccer betting offered by the state lotteries
(ODDSET)
• sports betting offered in about 6000 illegal betting
shops (estimated turnover 0,5 to 1 billion Euro)
• and via internet (bwin etc.): regarded as illegal in at
least some states (estimated turnover 1 to 1.5 billion
Euro)
• Estimated market share of ODDSET 10%
-> 90% of the market is illegal
Categories of Gambling
Contests:
• price competition games offered by private
television channels (50 cent games)
• price competition games offered by
companies (in general without charge)
The German Market for Gambling:
Gross Sales (2005) 31.6 Billion Euro
contests 0%
sport betting 6%
casino games 18%
gaming machines 45%
lotteries 31%
The German Market for Gambling:
Net Sales (2005) 8.4 Billion Euro
sport betting 4%
contests 2%
casino games 4%
gaming machines 32%
lotteries 58%
The German Market for Gambling:
Recent Developments
• Gross sales gambling machines: increase
from 2,35 billion Euro in 2005 to 3,25 billion
Euro in 2008 (+38%)
• Net sales (Bruttospielertrag) casinos in
Baden-Württemberg: decrease from 106
million Euro in 2005 to 75 million Euro in
2008 (-29%)
• Share of slot machines in casino net sales:
75%
The German Market for Gambling:
Recent Developments
Source: Dr. Norman Albers (Deutscher Buchmacherverband Essen e.V.): Warten auf den Wettbewerb
Deutschland im Jahr Zwei des neuen Glücksspielstaatsvertrage: Die Sicht der privaten Sportwettenanbieter
Number of Players: TNS Infratest
casino games
3,0
gaming machines
3,0
sport betting
4,0
class lottery
5,0
Glücksspirale
6,0
scratch cards
12,0
Lotto "6 aus 49"
33,3
0
5
10
15
20
25
percent
Source: A survey of 8000 people as to their participation in gambling in the last 12 months.
See Stöver (2006)
30
35
Money Spent by Players
Market segment
Lotteries
Number of Players
Sales in Euro
Average Spent
per Player, in Euro
27-34 Million
13,98 Billion
458,36
Gaming machines
3-5 Million
9,78 Billion
2445,00
Casino games
2-4 Million
5,84 Billion
1946,67
8-10 Million
0,15 Billion
16,67
3-7 Million
1,83 Billion
366,00
40-45 Million
31,58 Billion
743,06
Contests
Contests (television)
Sport betting
Total
Source: Own calculations
25-40 Million
State Revenues: 4.43 Billion Euro
1000
900
917
800
700
698
600
632
500
476
400
313
333
300
218
151
177
191
200
Bremen
Saarland
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Thüringen
Sachen-Anhalt
Brandenburg
Sachsen
Schleswig-Holstein
Hamburg
Berlin
Rheinland-Pfalz
Hessen
Niedersachsen
Baden-Württemberg
Bayern
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Source: Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (2006)
38
51
53
59
69
83
100
0
Interstate Treaty on Gambling
-> Result of the decision of the Federal
Constitutional Court on sports betting on
March 28, 2006.
Decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on Sports Betting: The Case
•
•
With an authorisation under the Racing Betting and Lottery Act
(Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz), the complainant ran a betting office in
Munich, in which, as a bookmaker, she commercially took and arranged
bets at horsesraces. In July 1997, she registered with the State capital,
the city of Munich, an extension of her business to arranging sports
bets. The city, in consultation with the Bavarian State Ministry of the
Interior, refused this, referring to the comprehensive prohibition against
public games of chance, which carried sanctions, contained in § 284 of
the Criminal Code.
The complainant took legal action against the city at the Administrative
Court (Verwaltungsgericht), with the goal of obtaining a declaratory
judgment that organising fixed-odds sport bets with the exception of
horse-racing bets did not require permission. During the proceedings,
she made an application for the grant of permission, which was
rejected by the defendant, and she then added to her statement of
claim an application in the alternative that the defendant be judicially
obliged to grant permission to organise or arrange sports bets.
Decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on Sports Betting: The Case
• Horse betting is regarded as a commercial law issue
and any (reliable etc.) person applying for a licence
has a right to get a licence
• Other sports betting is regarded as a police law issue
and only the Federal States are allowed to offer
sports betting opportunities
• The Federal States are responsible for education and
science and police
• Sports betting (except horse betting) is forbidden
under the criminal law (Strafgesetzbuch)
Decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on Sports Betting: The Verdict
• Taking into account the provisos that are contained in the
grounds, it is incompatible with Article 12.1 (freedom to choose
an occupation) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) that under the
Act on the Lotteries and Betting Organised by the Free State of
Bavaria (Gesetz über die vom Freistaat Bayern veranstalteten
Lotterien und Wetten, Staatslotteriegesetz – State Lottery Act) of
29 April 1999 sports betting in Bavaria may be organised only by
the Free State of Bavaria, and only bets of this kind may be
arranged commercially, and yet the monopoly is not consistently
geared to the goal of combating the dangers of addiction.
• The legislature is ordered to pass new provisions for the
organisation and arranging of sports betting, taking into account
the constitutional requirements that follow from the grounds, by
31 December 2007.
Decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on Sports Betting: The Verdict
-> The legislature is constitutionally obliged to
amend the legislation on the area of sports
betting, exercising its framing discretion
under legal policy. If the legislature wishes to
retain a state betting monopoly, it must orient
this strictly to the goal of combating betting
addiction and restricting the passion for
betting.
Decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on Sports Betting: Implications
• A state monopoly on sports betting is
compatible with the fundamental right of
occupational freedom only if it is consistently
geared to the goal of combating the dangers
of addiction
• Not only Bavaria but all other Federal States
have similar regulations
• The verdict is valid for all the Federal States
Lottery and Betting regulations
German Interstate Treaty on
Gambling
• Result of the decision of the Federal Constitutional
Court on sports betting on March 28, 2006.
• An effort towards a comprehensive and unified
framework for lotteries, casino games and betting.
• Consistently geared to the goal of combating the
dangers of addiction.
• Horse racing betting and gambling machines as well
as games of skill (contests) and fun games are not
covered by the new regulation, but casino games
including slot machines are.
German Interstate Treaty on
Gambling
• Commerce Law of the Federal State: Horse
betting and gambling machines
• Police Law of the States: Sports betting,
lotteries and casinos
-> Federal and State regulation authority in
conflict
Controversy between the Federal
States
• Against the single vote of the prime minister of
Schleswig-Holstein, that is 15 : 1, it was decided to
have the Treaty signed by the prime ministers in an
circulation procedure at the beginning of year 2008,
in order to have it subsequently be notified to the
European Commission.
• Finally all States signed the German Interstate Treaty
including Schleswig-Holstein
• German Interstate Treaty in force since 1. January
2008
German Interstate Treaty:
Provisions
• An effort towards a comprehensive and
unified framework for lotteries, casino games
and betting.
• Consistently geared to the goal of combating
the dangers of addiction.
• Consistent and systematic regulation: Horse
racing betting and gambling machines as well
as games of skill (contests) and fun games
are not covered by the new regulation, but
casino games including slot machines are.
An effort towards a comprehensive and
unified framework for lotteries, casino
games and betting
State
lottery
laws
Federal State
monopolies
German Interstate
Treaty
casinos owned by
Federal States
private casinos
licensed by the
Federal State
Federal State monopolies
on sports betting
Commercial
horse betting
Federal horse betting law
State
casino
laws
Consistently geared to the goal of
combating the dangers of addiction
• Each year about 5.000 persons with the main
problem pathological gambling in therapy
• Estimated 87.000 to 297.000 pathological gamblers
in the German population
• Estimated 1.300.000 to 1.700.000 alcohol addicts
and estimated 3.500.000 to 5.000.000 nicotine
addicts in the German population
Quelle: Becker, 2008
Gambling Addiction
Category of gambling
Percentage of pathological
gamblers
Gambling machines (amusement arcades
and restaurants)
69,0%
Slot machines (casinos)
11,4%
Sports betting (shops, internet)
6,8%
Roulette
5,8%
Poker (card and dice games)
3,6%
ODDSET
1,6%
Horse betting
0,6%
Lottery 6 out of 49
0,5%
Scratch cards
0,4%
Toto
0,2%
Class lotteries (SKL/NKL)
0,1%
SUM
100%
Quelle: Becker, 2008
Consistently geared to the goal of
combating the dangers of addiction
• The category of gambling, id est gambling machines,
causing the greatest danger of addiction is not part of
the German Interstate Treaty of Gambling
• Gambelli decision (67): “First of all, whilst in Schindler,
Läärä and Zenatti the Court accepted that restrictions on
gaming activities may be justified by imperative requirements in
the general interest, such as consumer protection and the
prevention of both fraud and incitement to squander on gaming,
restrictions based on such grounds and on the need to preserve
public order must also be suitable for achieving those
objectives, inasmuch as they must serve to limit betting activities
in a consistent and systematic manner.”
Consistently geared to the goal of
combating the dangers of addiction
• Several German courts have submitted a
request for clarification to the European Court
of Justice (Vorabentscheidungsersuchen)
• Sport betting companies claim that the
German Interstate Treaty on Gabling is not
compatible with EU law
• German Federal Constitutional Court states
in October 2008 that the German Interstate
Treaty on Gambling is compatible with the
German Basic Law (Grundgesetz)
German Interstate Treaty:
Provisions
• Introducing a distinction between “particularly
dangerous” and “low risk” lotteries according to the
event frequency (more or less then two draws a
week)
• Player identification and verification prescribed for
“particularly dangerous” lotteries
• Education of the staff involved in lottery ticket sales
• Mandatory gambling risk information labelling for
lottery tickets
• Stimulating, encouraging, soliciting advertising
prohibited, advertising may inform only to the extent
needed for game participation
German Interstate Treaty:
Provisions
• Prohibition of online gaming and betting
• Prohibition of television sponsoring and
advertising with exceptions for the
traditionally broadcasted draw of the lottery
numbers and for social lotteries
• Blocking of Financial and Internet Service
Providers
German Interstate Treaty:
Provisions
• Extending the barring scheme already available for
casinos games to casino slot machines and
“particularly dangerous” lotteries and sports betting
• Information to the public about the risk of gambling
• Mandatory information on gambling help hotlines
• Introducing an advisory committee (Fachbeirat) and a
gambling supervisory body (Glücksspielaufsichtsbehörde)
• Strengthening the Federal State supervisory bodies
Recent developments
• Schleswig-Holstein decided on October 2009
to resign the German Interstate Treaty on
Gambling and privatize casinos
• Selling homes by a lottery designed as a skill
game allowed but not as a chance game
• Pressure on gambling machines (evaluation
of the Gaming Regulation (Spielverordnung)
in work)
Consistent and systematic
regulation: options discussed
• Including gambling machines into the state
monopoly, id est into the Interstate Treaty on
Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag)
• Proposal of the advisory committee
(Fachbeirat) to restore gambling machines to
amusement machines
Proposal of the Advisory
Committee (Fachbeirat)
• Advisory Committee (Fachbeirat) created by
§10 German Interstate Treaty
(Glücksspielstaatsvertrag)
• Independently advising States on gambling
addiction issues
• Consisting of experts mainly representing
associations providing help for addiction
Proposal of the Advisory Committee
(Fachbeirat): Restoring gambling
machines to amusement machines
• Change the Commerce Regulation Act
(Gewerbeordnung)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Maximum stake 0,20 Euro
Minimum time per play 60 sec
Maximum loss per hour 7 Euro
Maximim gain per hour 30 Euro
No converting into points
No light or sound effects
Mandatory information on probabilities to win
Options discussed
• Introducing entrance control for and
extending the ban register to gambling
machines
• Removing gambling machines from
restaurants