CELEX: 62010CN0072
Language: en
Date: 2010-02-09 00:00:00
Title: Case C-72/10: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Italy) lodged on 9 February 2010 — Criminal proceedings against Marcello Costa

17.4.2010   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 100/27
            
         Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Italy) lodged on 9 February 2010 — Criminal proceedings against Marcello Costa
   (Case C-72/10)
   2010/C 100/41
   Language of the case: Italian
   
      Referring court
   
   Corte Suprema di Cassazione
   
      Party to the main proceedings
   
   Marcello Costa
   
      Question referred
   
   The Court of Justice is requested to interpret Articles 43 and 49 of the Treaty establishing the European Union with reference to freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in the sector of betting on sports events in order to establish whether or not those Treaty provisions permit national rules establishing a State monopoly and a system of licences and authorisations which, within the context of a given number of licences: (a) tend generally to protect holders of licences issued at an earlier period on the basis of a procedure that unlawfully excluded some operators; (b) in fact ensure the maintenance of commercial positions acquired on the basis of a procedure that unlawfully excluded certain operators (by, for example, prohibiting new licensees from locating their kiosks within a specified distance of those already in existence; (c) provide cases in which the licence may lapse with forfeiture of very large guarantee deposits, including the case in which the licensee directly or indirectly carries on cross-border gaming activities analogous to those under the licence.