Following an industry association hearing in February, the heads of the 16 German federal states adopted a draft State Treaty on the New Regulation of Gambling in Germany (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 – GlüStV 2021) at their conference on 12 March.

The new law will bring substantial changes to the German gambling regulation, including:

• New licensing options for online poker, virtual slots and online casino (table) games;
• An extension of current licensing options – e.g. for sports betting and for lottery brokerage;
• Removal of the requirement of an Internet and TV advertising licence;
• Detailed player protection and advertising requirements;
• A new central gambling supervisory authority in Saxony-Anhalt;
• A safe server system to ensure the supervision of gambling;
• Strengthening of the enforcement against illegal gambling; and
• A catalogue of 58 administrative offences with fines of up to 500.000 EUR.

North Rhine-Westphalia is authorized to make editorial and necessary legal changes in agreement with Berlin by the time the new State Treaty is signed. The new State Treaty also needs to be notified to the EU Commission in the meantime.

It is intended that the new State Treaty will be signed in summer. Afterwards it has to be ratified in at least 13 federal states in order to enter into force on 1 July 2021 as scheduled.