German ministers push for gambling treaty reforms ahead of 2026 review
German ministers push for gambling treaty reforms ahead of 2026 review Germany’s state interior ministers are pushing for reforms to the country’s gambling legislation well ahead of a scheduled 2026 review, with a particular focus on strengthening enforcement tools such as IP blocking and content takedown.
The resolution was adopted during the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) in June, and was highlighted in a recent blog post by the Institute for Gambling and Society at Ruhr University.
According to the institute, the IMK endorsed a draft of the Second State Treaty amending the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV), and urged federal states to begin the legislative process.
The ministers stressed that “due to the urgency of the matter,” the reforms should not wait for the final evaluation report, which is due by 31 December 2026. Instead, they called for immediate action to update and expand the current regulatory framework.
IP blocking takes centre stage
A central provision in the draft treaty strengthens enforcement tools by explicitly empowering regulators to block or remove illegal gambling content via intermediary service providers — such as hosting or internet access platforms — when direct action against operators is not feasible.
The draft introduces full-site blocking as an option in addition to selective takedowns.
It also drops a previous liability requirement, a provision long criticised for undermining the effectiveness of enforcement.
The update also reflects the legal shift from Germany’s now-defunct Telemedia Act (TMG) to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which is directly applicable in all member states.
In March, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the 2021 Interstate Treaty could not be used to justify IP blocking.
The court upheld a 2023 lower court decision that struck down an attempt by Germany’s gambling regulator, the GGL, to block access to Lottoland.
This decision left the regulator unable to block offshore operators effectively.
GGL CEO Ronald Benter responded by publicly calling for updated powers. The new treaty draft appears designed to resolve this, offering a solid legal foundation for site blocking.
However, the IMK stopped short of extending these powers to cover online advertising of illegal gambling.
The IMK’s report warned of the risk of “overblocking,” such as removing an entire newspaper website due to a single non-compliant banner ad.
The ministers called for further legal and technical examination of how such measures could be safely implemented.
Stronger oversight
The draft treaty also expands the GGL’s powers in licensing and supervision.
It would allow the regulator to request information from foreign enforcement and regulatory authorities when assessing an applicant’s reliability — particularly useful for operators with international operations. These checks would occur in the final stages of the licensing process only.
On the supervision side, the draft aims to formalise cooperation with international authorities for ongoing monitoring and enforcement — an area currently underdeveloped in the existing framework.
Additionally, the draft clarifies rules around Germany’s OASIS player exclusion system by requiring operators to tie access to the exclusion file to a specific physical venue or online domain using a unique access ID, which they are prohibited from sharing.
Meanwhile, the IMK also reviewed a report and draft regulation concerning sports betting on youth and amateur events.
While the proposal aims to curb problematic data-driven betting practices — such as scouts harvesting data from youth matches — no political consensus has yet emerged on an outright ban.
https://next.io/news/regulation/german-ministers-push-gambling-treaty-reforms/