German Online Casinos Imminent
The European Commission has heavily pressured the German government to address
the German legislation that currently bans other EU countries from operating
online casinos in the German market. As internet gambling expands throughout the
European countries though, online casino gambling is growing exponentially and
most EU countries expect open borders within the EU member-states in regards to
free trade agreements. The fact that Germany has discriminatory legislation
specifically protecting in-country online casinos angers both the EU Commission
and many of the other EU member-states.
But Germany has consistently resisted the pressure from the European Commission
in terms of opening its borders to online casinos. Only in the past month or so
has Germany begun to cede to the demands and start developing possible
legislation that would alleviate the current issue with the Commission.
But for the countries looking to access the online casino market within Germany
prior to the passage of developing legislation, another sector of the e-gaming
industry could be a back-door way into the German market. Skill games are an
emerging industry in the European market and though they are not wagering games
like the online casinos, many existing internet gambling companies have skill
gaming divisions that would fill this niche segment of the market without
infringing on the current laws that keep non-German internet gambling companies
out of the market.
The laws regarding the current German online casinos monopolies are in the
middle of change because of Germany’s issues with the European Commission – for
that reason skill gaming is a choice way for internet gambling companies to get
some market share prior to Germany opening up the e-gambling industry to other
EU member states.
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