While last month the European Commission said it would examine Bill 55, historically the European Court of Justice has been the final decision maker on the relationship between EU and domestic law.
The GGL has told the German federal states of its assessment and added it is in contact with the relevant authorities. As the German Ministry of Justice has already approached the European Commission, the GGL said it does “not see any reason to take action beyond this”.
Malta’s controversial Bill 55 is to face scrutiny from the European Commission.
“We therefore assume that proceedings will be initiated accordingly,” said the regulator.
Bill 55 seeks to protect gambling operators from liability resulting from their MGA-licensed grey market activities.
As such, the law orders courts to refuse to recognise or enforce any foreign judgements against these gambling businesses, when the activity is covered under their licence.
Bill 55 comes in the wake of a series of German and Austrian cases which have questioned the legality of gambling operators’ activities in this region. Precedents in both countries have found operators can be sued by a player for all historic losses.
While many operators have paid up after losing in court, 888-owned Mr Green and William Hill, as well as Flutter-owned PokerStars, have fought the decisions. As a result, some lawyers instead opted to sue the operators in Malta, where many of these businesses are based.
The operators would argue their gambling activity is covered under the European free movement of services across Europe. The legal basis of this is the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union, one of the EU’s two primary treaties. Meanwhile, European governments and regulators point to a 2017 decision by the European Commission to close infringement procedures and complaints in the gambling sector. This, they argue, is the legal ruling that states they have the right to prevent Malta-based businesses from taking bets in their jurisdictions.
