Licensing procedure in Germany: Transparency criteria of the CJEU not met

by Martin ArendtsIn its decision of 30 April 2013, file no. 5 L 90/13.WI, the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden granted one applicant (BetVictor) to the up to 20 sports betting licenses to be issued under the regime of the new Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2012 interim protection. The court mentioned that the whole procedure was not transparent. If the Hessian Administrative Court of Appeal (Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof) follows this line of argument, it even might be possible that the whole licensing procedure would have to start again. The CJEU expressly stated that interested operators must have a fair chance to evaluate their chances at the beginning of the procedure. The Administrative Court held that there was no such possibility in the current procedure:“… the requirements with regard to a transparent procedure are not fulfilled (…)” (page 6 of the decision)