Glüstv: concern for jobs

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the arcade employees fear their jobs in view of the new legislation. Since the revised state of gambling is to come into force from July 2021 and the industry is to reorganize, there is a risk of changing the inpatient offer. In particular, the minimum distances between the arcades are very concerned about the employees in the state, since according to the current situation, many facilities would have to close their gates.

Axiety for existence

The state government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania recently approved the new state agreement in the course of the ratification process. This set the course for the nationwide standardization of gambling legislation – from a political perspective a milestone. But economically, the new legal framework, which is expected to come into force in July 2021, threatens to destroy existence in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. For example, the employees of the approximately 180 arcades in the federal state fear for their job, since the new regulations provide for distance rules between the individual establishments. For one Most of the arcades and the 1,200 employees would mean the downfall.

Compromise solution Although the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania approved the new state of Gaming, the party fronts remained partially hardened. Both the left and the AfD do not see the game and youth protection pronounced enough, while the SPD and CDU welcomed the regulation measures. Overall, the new legal framework was ratified as a compromise solution.

The minimum distance remains the dispute

The causa for the distance rules has been accompanying the new Gaming State Treaty since the draft. The prime ministers of the individual federal states have signed the document, but was nevertheless The distance requirement between the arcades of both industry associations and operators strongly criticized. The respective Ratification processes in the state parliament Now cooked the topic up again.

One of the biggest critics are the IHKs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who again called for politics. Heide Klopp, Head of Law/E-Government in the IHK Neubrandenburg, acted as a mouthpiece of the many IHKs and led The inconsistent handling of the distance rules in the individual federal states on. In addition, she referred to the impending emigration of the player in the black market:

“It is not understandable for us why different distance rules between arcades apply in the individual federal states. There is also a risk that customers of the arcades will pursue their passion on the Internet when arcades are closed on site. A minimum distance of 500 meters as the crow flies must be observed between the arcades, only 200 meters between betting places and casinos have to pay no distance. ”– Heide Klopp, Head of Law/E-Government in the IHK Neubrandenburg, Official press release from the IHK Neubrandenburg

With the arcade spacing rules, politics wants to significantly strengthen player and youth protection. A sporadic distribution of the individual establishments should not be tempted to fall into old patterns. At the same time would Minors and young growing access to gambling can be made more difficult. These theoretical thoughts are the subject of cross -sector criticism, which is also listed by the umbrella organization of the American Automaternwirtschaft e.V. (DAW) at the federal level. Board spokesman Georg Stecker had also expressed his concerns about the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament, who has now rethought the implementation of the Gaming State Treaty and is planning a draft law. According to the DAW board spokesman, the quality features of a arcade in the foreground and does not prioritize the distance rules with regard to player protection.

Quality increase in the arcade market According to Georg Stecker, the evaluation of the North Rhine-Westphalian arcades according to qualitative criteria not only benefits the arcade market, but would also bring the youth and player protection forward.

Corona pours oil into the fire

The realignment of the gambling market in USA is only one side of the medal that is currently causing fear of jobs in the industry. On the downside there is the ubiquitous Corona pandemic, which makes preparation for the advancing change in the law in industry extremely difficult. Since November 2020, the inpatient gambling has not been able to pursue everyday business. Although the betting shops in some federal states are allowed to have opened to customer processing, However, the arcades are closed across the board. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is no exception. The elimination of the business basis by Corona pours oil into the fire again throughout the cause and should make the existence of the arcade employees even greater.

Financial abyss Since the pandemic effects affect almost the entire economy, the federal government has launched financial emergency aids in the course of the “first Corona wave” that are intended to support the battered companies and industries. The gambling industry should also be supplied with funds in order to cushion the failure of the business. However, according to some industry associations, many of the emergency aids have not yet reached the respective companies and companies.