Interactive Guide to Online Gambling Regulation in Europe

Online gambling is permitted in the Czech Republic for six types of games of chance: (i) lotteries, (ii) odds bets, (iii) totalisator games, (iv) bingos, (v) technical games, and (vi) live games. Games of chance are considered to be operated in the Czech Republic if they are even partially targeted to persons in the Czech Republic. Online games of chance can be operated by companies with their registered seat in the Czech Republic or another EU/EEA member state, which were granted a basic licence from the Ministry of Finance.

Online games of chance can be operated only via webpages available in Czech language. Servers and devices used to operate online games of chance must be located in EU/EEA member states. Participation in online games of chance is subject to prior registration of the user, which requires verification of identity and age of the user (user cannot be younger than 18 years). Each user can have only one user account with the same gambling operator. Online payments to and from the user account are restricted to registered payment methods and transfer of funds between user accounts is prohibited. Cash deposits and withdrawals to and from a user account are restricted to CZK 5,000 (approx. EUR 196) in 24 hours.

Operation of online games of chance without a basic licence is illegal. The Ministry of Finance is entitled to provide for IP blocking of illegal online gambling websites and payment blocking to and from bank accounts used by illegal online gambling operators. The Ministry of Finance maintains Blacklist of illegal online gambling websites. Illegal operation of games of chance is considered an administrative offence punishable with a fine of up to CZK 50,000,000 (approx. EUR 1,961,000).
The Blacklist of illegal online gambling websites is available in Czech at: https://www.mfcr.cz/cs/soukromy-sektor/hazardni-hry/seznam-nepovolenych-internetovych-her”

Updated 21 May 2018

The regulatory landscape for online gambling in Germany remains uncertain. Although online gambling is subject to regulation at an individual state level, the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ITG) was enacted to ensure unified rules throughout the 16 German states.

The ITG in its current version, effective as of July 2012, determines a general prohibition of online gambling but with the exception that permission for lottery, horse racing and sports betting can be given. The requirements for a permission are listed in the ITG. All other forms of online gambling are still completely prohibited.

Before joining the ITG in 2013, the state of Schleswig-Holstein had its own Gambling Act allowing online lottery, sports and horse betting as well as online casino. It issued more than 50 licences under this Act, of which 23 were for online casino, seven of it also included the license for online poker, and 25 for sports betting. These licences are about to expire and are applicable only to services offered to players based in Schleswig-Holstein.

For the sector of sports betting, the ITG provides for twenty concessions (as a special form of permission) to be granted to applicants for an experimental seven-year period especially to observe positive effects on resolving black market gambling.

Due to various pending disputes and a decision of the Higher Administrative Court of Hesse of 16 October 2015, which has confirmed several defects in the sports betting licensing process as contrary to fundamental rights and EU law, no licences have been granted.

Furthermore the CJEU decided on 4 February 2016 (C-336/14- Ince) that private economic operators, who offer sports betting without the obligatory concession cannot be punished, because of the unclear legal situation.

The Federal Administrative Court in a judgement of 26 October 2017 confirmed the online casino ban and the license requirement for sports betting. It further confirmed that the law was enforceable against sports betting operators who did not apply for a licence.

A planned reform of the ITG to become effective on 1 January 2018 has failed and different regulatory concepts are discussed among the state legislators.

Schleswig-Holstein recently announced to issue interim permissions for offering sports betting services to customers in Schleswig-Holstein to EU and EEA based operators who fulfill the licensing requirements stipulated by the ITG. Earlier attempts to issue interim permissions were held to infringe EU law. Therefore it remains to be seen whether Schleswig-Holstein will enforce the law against operators not having obtained an interim permission and whether such enforcement measures will be upheld by the courts.

On 7 December 2017 the European Commission stated in a press release that it will terminate its infringement proceedings against Germany regarding the gambling sector because of a more strategic approach to enforce EU law.

Updated 21 May 2018