Case C-440/23: Pleading in front of the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the German rules on online casinos and the bet on lotteries

On 9 April 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU heard the pleadings of the parties and the Member States in the case on the reference for a preliminary ruling regarding the interpretation of Article 56 TFUE concerning national (German) gambling regulations. The reference is asked by the court Prim’Awla tal-Qorti Ċivili (Malta) about the compatibility with EU law of the German monopoly on lotteries and the former prohibition of online casinos (State treaty).

The case involves an application for reimbursement of stakes lost by an individual on the secondary lotteries offered in Germany for which the private (Maltese) operators did not have a licence, and in particular, the compatibility of the German regime prohibiting unlicensed online bet on lotteries with Article 56 TFEU.

In that case, on the one hand, a question arises as to the admissibility of the preliminary question C-440/23, since it was raised by a Maltese judge in the context of a legal dispute between a German lawyer who bought recovery claims against Lottoland (‘European Lotto and Betting Ltd Deutsche Lotto Und Sportwetten Limited’) from a player who is also domiciled in Germany. 

On the other hand, the Court have to examine the distinction between a lottery organised by the State and a bet with a private organiser regulated in another Member State on the result of that same State lottery (so-called ‘secondary’ lottery) and on the justification of the German regulations on online casinos and lotteries under Union law.

In addition, the Court should indicate whether German law (before 1 July 2021) was compatible with EU law in that the exclusion of any organisers from obtaining a licence to organise online bets on lotteries was justified on consumer protection grounds.

The opinion of the Advocate General in this case shall be published on 10th July 2025.