The Court of Rome has ordered the postponement while waiting for the Security Council to decide on the pending cases regarding the alleged community incompatibility of the 2015 Stability Law
In a judgment opposing an injunction issued in favor of the Concessionaire for the recovery of the share of forced withdrawal presumably due by the Manager, the Single Judge of the Court of Rome deemed it appropriate, before ruling on the payment request, to wait for the Board of State will decide on the preliminary question of the community incompatibility of the 2015 STABILITY LAW, once the required technical consultations have been completed.
The Manager, represented and defended by the lawyer Maximilian Ariano (in the photo), based its request for postponement on what was stated by the Council of State in the recent ordinance no. 341/2024 according to which the «Purpose of the consultancy is to obtain an overall picture of the influence of the levy in question on the sector affected by it, represented by the complex of the appellant companies, analyzed one by one, in order to be able to ascertain, as requested by the Court of Justice, the actual systemic impact, net of any effects that may depend on the contingent economic situation of the individual operator".
The Judge shared the assumption supported by the lawyer. Ariano regarding the importance of the aforementioned statement with which the Security Council clearly explained the purpose of the expert assessments arranged in the pending proceedings aimed at verifying the impact of the forced withdrawal, not already and not
only on the individual Concessionaire, but on the entire gaming sector through machines dispensing cash winnings.
“This means – explained the lawyer Ariano – that the assessment whether the levy «could have had the consequence of hindering the profitable management of the gaming machines» will have to take place through an aggregate and unitary examination of all economic and financial data detected by experts, avoiding a fragmented decision relating to the economic situation of each individual concessionaire and favoring a unitary assessment of the systemic impact of the forced levy on all operators in the sector, including the managers".
The CdS has set the public hearing for 04.04.2024 where the Judge himself, having heard the parties, will reserve his decision.
