Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States, known as the GGL, has marked its fifth anniversary by pushing for more adaptable regulatory powers across the online gambling sector.
The regulator argues that business models, emerging technologies, and new forms of illegal gambling are all evolving at a pace that current legislation simply cannot match.
With around 100 employees now on its books, the GGL has grown into a fully operational national authority capable of overseeing a complex and rapidly shifting digital marketplace.
The authority is now looking to the forthcoming evaluation of the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling as an opportunity to secure greater flexibility within the existing legal framework.
GGL board member Ronald Benter reflected on the scale of what the organisation had achieved since its founding, offering a clear-eyed assessment of the journey taken over five years.
Benter stated: “Five years ago, there was a political mandate. Today, there is a fully operational, nationwide specialised authority. We had to recruit staff, build structures and expertise, and simultaneously shape a completely new area of regulatory oversight in practice.”
He continued: “Today, we possess the experience, specialist knowledge, and technical capabilities to effectively supervise a highly digitised online gambling market with an international character. This marks the starting point for the next stage of development.”
The GGL’s five-year review highlighted its success in establishing a licensed market under unified national oversight, while also ramping up enforcement against illegal operators and the networks that support them.
Currently, 129 operators and intermediaries hold a GGL licence, collectively covering 229 authorised gambling websites across the German market.
Throughout 2025, the authority conducted more than 600 supervisory checks on licensed providers, with examinations covering player protection measures, advertising compliance, and the technical operation of gambling products.
The scale of those enforcement efforts underlines just how seriously the GGL has taken its consumer protection mandate since coming into existence five years ago.
The call for legislative flexibility reflects a broader tension regulators across Europe are grappling with, as digital gambling products continue to outpace the speed of formal lawmaking processes.
For the GGL, securing room to manoeuvre within the legal framework without waiting for full legislative overhauls could prove critical to maintaining effective oversight in the years ahead.
