Legislation
Germany – DAW spokesman makes case for ‘qualitative criteria’ in slot hall laws
By Phil - 11 December 2020
Georg Stecker, spokesman for the board of directors of the umbrella organisation Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft eV (DAW), has spoken out to reject the regulation of commercial slot machine games based on quantitative criteria.
He said that no player is protected by the fact that it takes a few minutes more or less to get to the next arcade due to minimum distances. Only qualitative regulatory standards, i.e. standards that concern the protection of the gaming guests in the gaming hall themselves, are suitable for performing this protective function. The channeling goal of the State Treaty on Gambling runs counter to the shortage and displacement of the legal range of games, said the DAW board spokesman.
The fact that, with the State Treaty on Gaming in 2021, qualitative criteria are now being used for the first time in the regulation of commercial slot machine games is therefore to be welcomed, also and in particular from the point of view of all legal and properly working companies. They would often already, voluntarily and out of conviction, provide a level of youth and player protection that goes beyond the legal regulations. They welcomed a regulation that gives them the chance to convince with the high quality of their offerings, instead of measuring distances with a tape measure, explained Mr. Steck.
He calls on the federal states to make use of the option when implementing the interstate treaty into state law to obtain association arcades with a maximum of three licenses for a limited period if they meet certain quality criteria. The federal states should proceed in the same way with regard to the minimum distances, because ‘a sufficient stock of high-quality establishments is indispensable if one wants to steer the natural instinct to play in orderly ways and counteract the black market.’
