The gambling industry (concerning bets, lotteries, etc.) is governed with strict law and regulations in every European country.

This is comprehensible if it is considered that the gambling industry is very important for the Governments because it assures relevant tax incomes and it has a great impact on the civil society (just think about the impact that gaming addiction/compulsive gambling can have on people).

For these reasons in Italy it is forbidden to install Slot Machines (or VLT) in places without the necessary licenses (only given by governmental authorities); besides, the Slot Machines and VLT can be connected only to a company that has been previously authorised by the government.

Similarly, the betting games are allowed only to this kind of authorised companies, considering that “authorised” can only be subjects who have received a special concession by the Italian governmental authorities.

For the same reasons gambling operators are not allowed to put their Slot Machines or VLT in betting venues without having a specific authorisation.

Obviously all these legal restrictions have caused a lot of lawsuits, above all between the governmental authorities and the foreign companies (that were used to have more freedom within the industry).

Considering the situation in Italy, the foreign operators, that often do not have the licenses, are attempting to ask the application of the European law.

For this reason, after a negative decision by the Italian courts, the operators have decided to bring the case before the European Court of Justice, asking the application of European law in place of the Italian one.

While we are waiting for the decision of the European Court, the situation in the Italian courts is somehow changing.

To give an example, there is a recent news about an Italian Court (based in Bergamo) that has removed a fine of 30,000 euro imposed by the Italian governmental authority to Stanley who had installed Slot Machines without having the necessary license of public security. According to our information, the Court has considered that denying the license to the CTD (betting collection centres) was in breach with EU law and, as a consequence, being that an unlawful denial, the Court has ruled that the sanctions given to Stanley were illegal.

This decision is very important because an Italian Court has directly decided to refer to European Law and apply it directly.

Even though referring and applying European law rather than applying Italian regulations it is considered contradictory/contrary to Italian regulations itself, this decision could be an example for other similar cases and it could now open new possibilities for foreign operators that might be able to install Slot Machines with less governmental authorisations.