WRITTEN QUESTION E-2275/99

by Vittorio Sgarbi (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 December 1999)

Subject: European rules on amusement arcades

At present, there are considerable disparities between the various Member States with regard to national rules governing games of chance. In some countries such as Italy there is a total ban on the issuing of licences with the result that demand far outstrips the very limited supply. All of Italy's neighbours, however, including Slovenia which is close to becoming a member of the Union, have more liberal laws on games of chance and have numerous casinos and amusement arcades. Consequently there are many Italians who travel abroad in order to frequent these places.

These activities produce revenue of thousands of billions of lire for the local authorities or states where the games of chance take place, revenue which is lost to the gamblers' regions of origin because of the absence of adequate facilities. Much of this revenue comes from the pockets of Italians who are obliged to travel abroad to frequent amusement arcades. At European level, efforts have always been made to standardise Member States' rules liable to generate appreciable differences in the socio-economic field, while account should also be taken of the huge turnover produced by gaming houses.

Can the Commission answer the following:

- is it intending to draw up a Community directive that will provide equal opportunities for businessmen, interested bodies and clients with regard to the opening, operation and frequenting of amusement arcades?

- if not, does it think it would be appropriate to take steps to remove the legal disparities and eliminate any possible competition based on clear differences in laws, which severely penalise Italy vis-à-vis neighbouring countries?

- furthermore, does it think it appropriate to issue a Community directive on the subject designed to standardise the laws in force in the various Member States as soon as possible?

Answer by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2000)

The Commission would like to draw the honourable Member's attention to the negative aspects of games of chance, which include the active encouragement for players to spend money and a potential for damaging personal and social consequences. For this reason, all Member States regulate games of chance with the intention of preventing the stimulation of demand in this sector, fighting crime and fraud, and ensuring that games of chance serve a charitable, sporting or cultural purpose, rather than personal or commercial profit. In view of the moral, religious and cultural concerns surrounding these activities, the Member States therefore tend to impose a limit on their number.

Although the limitations on games of chance prevent certain economic operators from gaining access to this field of activity, their underlying principles were found by the Court of Justice to be compatible with the principle of the freedom to provide services set out in Article 49 (formerly Article 59) of the EC Treaty (see the judgment of 21 September 1999 in case C-124/97). The Court found that the considerations of public interest mentioned above were sufficient justification for leaving the Member States to decide which restrictive measures were necessary to provide protection on their territory.

It is the Commission's view that the various systems of regulation and national control exercised in the different Member States are all based on public interest grounds and follow the same principles, which are compatible with the Community principle of the freedom to provide services. In this context and in the absence of substantial differences between the laws of the various Member States, the Commission has no intention of drafting any secondary legislation on games of chance.