Permit under restaurant law; application by non-EU citizens

In principle, a restaurant license is required for the operation of a restaurant business (serving alcohol) in accordance with Section 2 (1) of the German Restaurant Act (GastG). However, if the catering activity requiring a permit is only temporary catering on the occasion of an event (special occasion, e.g. club, town, music festival, etc.), the operation of the catering business can be permitted by the municipality under simplified conditions (as a rule, no proof of instruction and, if applicable, no building permit is required) in accordance with § 12 GastG.

Commercial activity is also deemed to exist if the profits are used for charitable purposes.

You operate a restaurant business if you, as a standing business

1. serve drinks for consumption on the spot (pub business) or
2. serve prepared food for consumption on the premises (catering business),

if the business is accessible to the general public or certain groups of people.

The catering trade only requires a permit if alcoholic beverages are served. If only non-alcoholic drinks and/or prepared food are served, the catering trade is generally not subject to licensing.

Permission is dependent on the existence of a special occasion. This is the case if the catering activity in question is linked to a short-term, infrequently occurring event that lies outside the catering activity itself. The term "occasion" is understood to mean an external impetus or an external circumstance as a result of which the catering business is to be operated. The occasion is special if it is exceptional; frequently recurring events without exceptional character are not special occasions.

In any case, the intended gastronomic activity may only appear as an annex (appendage) to another independent event. The decisive factor is always an overall assessment of the project and its (alleged) occasion.

In the case of musical performances, for example, the type and duration of the performance can have the character of an independent event and the serving of drinks can form its annex. On the other hand, the serving of beverages can also be the dominant event and the music can only have a subordinate significance serving the serving of beverages or the music can have no independent weight that can be separated from the serving of beverages.

In this respect, pure disco and party events (beach parties, dance parties, etc.) are to be assessed particularly critically, where the serving of drinks and disco or party operations regularly form a unit and therefore equally characterize the event. In this case, other aspects must regularly be added in addition to the pure event, which have their own weight, in order to justify a special occasion at all.

In the past, there have been known cases in which drunken guests have rioted. The aspect of alcohol abuse prevention is therefore particularly important. Events aimed at excessive alcohol consumption are not permitted. Advertising concepts such as "all-inclusive" or "flat-rate parties", where all or certain alcoholic drinks are included in the admission price or are available at a reduced price and without limit, are also likely to encourage guests to abuse alcohol. In addition, care must be taken to ensure that a non-alcoholic drink is not offered at a higher price than the same quantity of the cheapest alcoholic drink (§ 6 GastG). Particular attention must also be paid to compliance with youth protection regulations.

Particular care must be taken to ensure that the application for a permit is submitted in writing and in good time in order to enable a proper official examination and decision on the application. As a rule, the application must therefore be submitted at least 2 weeks before the special event. If an application is not submitted in good time and it is no longer possible to properly review the eligibility for a permit by the planned date of the event, the permit will be refused.

Just like the restaurant permit, the permit under restaurant law is also space-related and can therefore only be granted for a specific location (i.e. not for a specific beer tent regardless of the specific location).

In principle, a residence permit that allows the exercise of self-employment is required.

In particular, the special reason is a prerequisite for authorization. This must also be explained in detail in the application.

It may also be necessary to check the applicant's reliability, particularly if the applicant's personal circumstances are not known or the applicant is not already in possession of a travel trade license or a permit dependent on his/her reliability.

The premises must comply with the necessary building regulations.

As a rule, the application for permission must be submitted at least four weeks before the special event.

• Identity card; passport
• Proof of reliability
  

  Official certificate of good conduct or character or extract from the criminal record of the home country or an equivalent document and/or a certificate of good conduct for authorities (Section 30 (5) of the Federal Central Criminal Register Act) and information from the Central Trade Register (Section 150 (5) of the Trade Regulation Act).

• Detailed description of the premises, if applicable
• in the case of power of attorney: a written power of attorney and identification of the principal and the authorized representative