Schleswig-Holstein issues four new licences

Unibet and Merkur-Win have become the first operators to be awarded egaming licences in Schleswig-Holstein since Germany’s highest civil court ruled that the region’s gaming law could not operate in tandem with the country’s State Gaming Treaty.

The Swedish-listed operator and Gauselmann subsidiary have both been awarded poker and casino licences joining the likes of 888, PokerStars and bet365 in securing authorisations for one or both of the verticals.

Merkur, which entered into a joint venture with Playtech last year, has also secured a sports betting licence, as has Austrian-registered business Cash-Line Sportwetten.

Schleswig-Holstein last issued licences in late January, shortly before the court ruling threw the future of its breakaway egaming regulations into doubt.

Four questions ““ including one concerning whether it is “incoherent” for the regulatory regime in one of the 16 German Länder to be different from that used across the remaining 15 ““ were referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union last month.

This followed a European Commission opinion on Schleswig-Holstein’s proposed return to the State Treaty, with the European Gaming and Betting Association supporting the stance, which it said: “Sends a clear message that Member States are no longer going to be allowed to impose gaming regulations that fail to meet the tests set by the CJEU.”

The approval for Unibet’s German subsidiary comes after comments from group chief executive Henrik Tjärnstrom last week about the need for continued investment in dot.country markets.

Following the publication of the operator’s full-year results, Tjärnstrom said: “The gaming market is increasingly divided into those who embrace the opportunities and challenges provided by re-regulation and those who don’t.”

Five of Unibet’s top 10 markets are regulated, with the operator launching dot.country offerings in Denmark and Belgium last year.