New German Online Gambling Law Receives Heavy CriticismNoua lege germană a gamblingului online primeşte critici dure
The European Commission recently objected to the newly proposed German online gambling law, explaining that it’s against European Union laws and common practice. Now, the European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) elaborated why the Commission took this decision. The European Gaming & Betting Association explained that it supports the decision taken by the Commission, because the new German law would favor the already established German gambling companies, which would be unfair, and according to EU law, illegal towards foreign based companies.
The organization further added that if the German state doesn’t changes the illegal provisions in the law proposal, it may face legal consequences from the European Court of Justice which would lead to severe monetary punishments. EGBA representatives also explained that they find it strange that the total number of acquirable sports betting licenses is limited to seven. According to them, there is no practical reason to limit the number of available licenses, and this move would put medium and small companies in a serious disadvantage.
Furthermore, the organization voiced objections against the huge tax rate of 16.67% on all money wagered. This provision would practically make the providing of online gambling services highly unprofitable for companies that just acquired a German license. The new law proposal also gives a bigger advantage in acquiring a license for companies that also provide offline sports betting services. This way companies that offer online sports betting services exclusively will have a hard time to acquire a license.
Online casino game operators will also be seriously disadvantaged because in order to acquire a German license they will be required to also provide offline casino and gambling services in the country. This is again something that would give a huge advantage to already established German casinos. Another illegal provision of the law proposal is the fact that state owned gambling companies will have the chance to advertise their services without restrictions, but privately owned companies will have to fulfill a certain set or criteria to be allowed to launch marketing campaigns in the country.Comisia Europeană a obiectat de curând la noile legi ale gamblingului online propuse în Germania, spunând că sunt în contradicţie cu legile UE. EGBA susţine că sprijină deciziile CE deoarece noile legi ar sprijini companiile de gambling deja existenţe în Germania, lucru care nu ar fi corect conform legislaţiei UE, ilegal faţă de concurenţa străină. Organizaţia a mai adăugat că dacă Germania nu-şi modifică acest proiect de lege, ar putea ajunge în faţă Curţii de Justiţie, fapt ce ar duce la sancţiuni financiare severe. Reprezentanţii EGBA au mai declarat că li se pare ciudat că numărul sporturilor pe care se poate paria este limitat la şapte. Conform spuselor organizaţiei, nu există niciun motiv pentru care acest număr să fie limitat, iar acest fapt ar cauza dezavantaje majore companiilor mici şi mijlocii.
Mai mult decât atât, organizaţia şi-a declarat nemulţumirea şi faţă de taxele mari de 16, 67%. Acest lucru ar pune în dezavantaj companiile care abia au obţinut licenţă germană. Noua lege asigură avantaje mai mult pentru companiile care oferă servicii şi offline. Pentru furnizorii de servicii exclusiv online ar fi mult mai greu să obţină licenţă. Operatorii cazinourilor online vor fi serios dezavantajaţi deoarece pentru a obţine licenţă germană ei trebuie să furnizeze şi servicii offline şi de gambling în ţară. Acest lucru ar conferi un mare plus din nou companiilor germane. Alt punct considerat ilegal din lege este cel care prevede că firmele de stat îşi vor putea face reclamă fără restricţii, în timp ce firmele private vor trebui să îndeplinească o serie de condiţii pentru a organiza campanii publicitare în ţară.
