Case C-194/25, Leovegas Gaming: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 11 March 2025 – Leovegas Gaming plc v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni
Date: 2025-03-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: advertising, broadcasting, consumer protection, disclosure of information, equal treatment, game of chance, principle of legal certainty, provision of services, public health, television








C_202503264EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3264


24.6.2025






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 11 March 2025 – Leovegas Gaming plc v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni


(Case C-194/25, Leovegas Gaming)

(C/2025/3264)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Leovegas Gaming plc

Defendant: Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni

Questions referred







1.


Do the provisions of Directive (EU) 2015/1535, (1) and in particular Articles 1 and 5, apply even where the service, having the characteristics referred to in Article 1(1)(b) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535, is provided via television broadcasting, as defined in Article 1(1)(e) of Directive (EU) 2010/13, having regard to the provisions of Article 1(2) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535?










2.


If question (1) is answered in the affirmative, is Article 1(1)(e) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 to be interpreted as including in its scope of application a rule such as that applied in the main proceedings, and, in particular, is it to be understood as relating specifically to the service in so far as it concerns a requirement of a general nature relating to the provision of the service referred to in Article 1(1)(b), namely a prohibition on advertising as applied in the main proceedings, imposed by legislation other than that governing the service itself, and is such a rule therefore subject to the notification requirement laid down in Article 5 of that directive?










3.


If questions (1) and (2) are answered in the affirmative, may the absence of notification pursuant to Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 be relied on by a private individual in a case such as that in the main proceedings, and, if so, and in the event of a finding of infringement, does that entail an obligation for the national court to declare the provision of national law ineffective, even in a case such as that in the main proceedings, where the internal rule potentially concerns an aspect that is neither extrinsic nor central to the service, whereas its non-application would be detrimental to values and principles that are protected by the same field of law [of the European Union], in particular consumer protection and the protection of human health?










4.


Must European Union law and, in particular, Articles 6 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 4(3) TEU, 5(4) TEU, 49 TFEU and 56(1) TFEU, and the principles of legal certainty, equal treatment, non-discrimination and protection of legitimate expectations be interpreted as precluding a national rule such as that applied in the main proceedings which prohibits any form of advertising, including indirect advertising, in relation to games or betting with monetary winnings and gambling, however carried out and by any means, including sports, cultural or artistic events, television or radio broadcasts, daily and periodic press, publications in general, posters and online, digital and electronic channels, including social media?






(1)  Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services (codification) (OJ 2015 L 241, p. 1).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3264/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)