German gambling regulator launches new addiction strategy with state authorities

Chairman Ronald Benter will meet with the authorities of each of Germany’s 16 federal states.

Germany.- The German federal gambling regulator Glücksspielbehörde (GGL) has launched a new coordination strategy on gambling addiction with state authorities. Chairman Ronald Benter will meet with the authorities of each of Germany’s 16 federal states in a bid to improve cooperation and exchange ideas about how to improve legislation to combat gambling addiction.

The GGL said meetings were intended to allow the regulator to “better understand the challenges faced by state coordination offices and to develop joint approaches for intensified cooperation”. It has identified coordination as a challenge and will prioritise feedback on healthcare and public welfare.

Benter kicked things off last week in a meeting with Konrad Landgraf, managing director of the State Office for Gambling Addiction in Bavaria (LSG).

He said: “It is crucial for us to hear the perspectives of all relevant interest groups and to get a comprehensive picture of the situation. Player protection and raising public awareness are high priorities for us. Through thematic exchange with the state coordination offices, we are further expanding our expertise.”

In July, the Higher Administrative Court in Saxony-Anhalt backed the GGL’s call for powers to act against streamers based abroad. The regulator has lodged a legal challenge related to a German streamer who was promoting unlicensed online slot games from outside of the country.

The court found that the GGL was right to intervene under the principle of territoriality in international law because “the content created in German is aimed at a German-speaking area. It is therefore mainly addressed to viewers who access the streaming content from Germany”.