The Carmen Media Case – The Expected Catalyst from Brussels for a New Approach to German Gambling Law?

Gerald Spindler, Wulf Hambach and Bernd Berberich*
Case C-46/08 Carmen Media Group Ltd v. Land Schleswig-Holstein and others

Billions of Euros of turnover are generated every year from games of chance. The legal framework conditions regulating this branch of the economy vary significantly within the European Union. Whilst in many countries such as Germany the state has … Continue Reading

VMW Taxand Annual Gaming Industry Get-together / Friday 1 April 2011

VMW Taxand kindly invites you to join us for the   Annual Gaming Industry Get-together to be held on

Friday 1 April 2011 … Continue Reading

OPENING UP THE GAMING MARKET IN THE NETHERLANDS?

by Justin Franssen and Frank Tolboom

Things are currently moving rapidly in the Dutch gaming market  due to both political and legal developments. The new Dutch  government indicated that it might introduce a licensing regime for remote gambling, and very recently a sell-off of state-owned Holland Casino was suggested by the state secretary of finance in Parliament.

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Germany’s legal framework after the Carmen Media case

A number of European Court of Justice rulings – in particular, the Carmen Media case – have changed the legal basis for Germany’s gambling ban and could possibly pave the way for the end of the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling. Dr. Wulf Hambach and Dr. Michael Hettich, of Hambach and Hambach, discuss the different cases and their impact on Germany’s regulatory gambling framework. … Continue Reading

Tears of joy

By Attorney-at-law Dr. Wulf Hambach, Hambach & Hambach law firm, published in SPONSORs 10/2010, p. 68

When I, together with my colleagues at the law firm, submitted an application to the Ministry of Finance in Schleswig-Holstein in 2006, intending to obtain access to the sports betting market in this state for the Gibraltarian online gaming provider Carmen Media Ltd., we obviously were aware of the following: First, we overthrow the German betting monopoly before the ECJ, and then our client can enter the German betting market. But all jokes aside: getting to Luxembourg with this case, and to even win it in the end, was about as likely as making a top Bundesliga side out of a village football team.

At least up to now. After the ECJ judgment of 8 September, the 16 Minister Presidents will probably have lost interest in a monopoly solution. This should now have cleared the way for the elimination of the ban on organising and advertising EU licenced online games of chance. … Continue Reading