Germany’s GGL seeks greater powers to fight illegal gambling

Germany’s GGL wants greater flexibility to introduce enforcement measures without waiting for all 16 federal states to amend the Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021). GGL board member Ronald Benter argued that the current system takes too long to adapt to new developments in the illegal internet gambling market. At the moment, a change to the regulations requires the agreement of all 16 German federal states before the changes can be approved by the state parliaments. Benter proposed that the GGL alone should have the right to deal with enforcement. He suggested the enforcement should be controlled by its supervisory board, made up of the representatives of the federal states. This way, the representatives would still have influence over the GGL without the need for the treaty to be amended every time there should be an adjustment in the enforcement. Benter said that the slow process of legislation allows unscrupulous operators to react faster than the authorities in terms of enforcement. This issue also relates to licensed operators who have already stated that the German laws regulate betting amounts, deposits, and games so that sometimes offshore gambling websites can be more attractive to some customers. Benter also called upon the prosecutors to pursue more cases against the offenders outside Germany running unlicensed gambling services targeting the German customers. Whether the GGL receives greater enforcement powers will depend on the 16 federal states as part of the ongoing evaluation of the GlüStV 2021.