(Jamma) “On the provincial territory, the opening of gambling halls and slot rooms is constantly increasing and today in Italy the gambling industry generates around 80 billion in turnover, equal to 4% of the national GDP, and is the third Italian industry (about 10% of the turnover goes back to the State)". These are the premises of the agenda, proposed by Claudia Rubini-Pdl and voted unanimously last Monday in the Council, which invites the Government to "approve a national framework legislation that is finally complete in terms of content and arrangements so that the State recovers the government and the political planning of the activities of the entire gaming sector and therefore also of the gambling sector”.
The agenda also urges the Government to "complete the regulatory process undertaken with Legislative Decree 158/2012 on the subject of gambling addiction and to promptly implement the implementing decree defining the minimum distances of gaming points from sensitive places". In fact, the text underlines "the risks and damages resulting from gambling when it becomes pathological and irresponsible, as well as the risks related to phenomena contrary to public order (organized crime, money laundering, usury, thefts and muggings) which can be organized around to places of gambling”.
The reorganization of the gaming sector, recalls the odg, has been tackled several times without however arriving at a framework legislation, but - in the opinion of the Provincial Council - "the protection of health and public order require timely interventions also by of the local authorities in charge".
The Constitutional Court (with sentence n. 300/2011) recognizes the legitimacy of the Municipalities and Regions to intervene on the matter and, recalls the agenda, the Emilia-Romagna Region at the end of 2012 unanimously approved a resolution with the which the Government is asked for a complete framework legislation which, on the one hand, guarantees homogeneity of interventions throughout the national territory and on the other, then allows the individual Regions to equip themselves with legislative instruments inserted in a clearer and more defined regulatory framework. "Currently, in the territory of the province of Bologna - the document recalls - there are few Municipalities that have adopted specific legislation on the matter".
At the request of Maria Grazia Baruffaldi of the Democratic Party, a paragraph was added to the original text, presented in the Chamber on 8 April and subsequently discussed in the Council Commission, which asks to "allocate a part of the revenues deriving from the sector to the prevention and treatment of pathologies from play".
Below is the text of the agenda
The Provincial Council of Bologna
premised
- that today in Italy the gambling industry has a turnover of around 80 billion, i.e. 4% of the national GDP and has become the third largest Italian industry (about 10% of the turnover goes back to the State)
- that the opening of gambling halls and slot rooms is constantly increasing also in the province of Bologna
considered
- that the risks and damages resulting from gambling are known when it becomes pathological and irresponsible (the player gambles more than he can afford, plays longer and longer and tries to recover what he has lost , ends up making debts and neglecting family and loved ones as well as work or even committing a crime to get money to gamble….)
– that the risks associated with phenomena contrary to public order (organised crime, money laundering, usury, thefts and bag-snatching) which can be organized around gambling venues are also well known, as also shown by the recent "Report on the phenomenon of mafia infiltration in lawful and unlawful gambling" published by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the phenomenon of the mafia and other criminal associations on 22 July 2011 (Doc. XXIII No. 8)
- that since 2003 the Italian government has been committed to reorganizing the entire gaming sector and in particular at the end of the last legislature this sector was taken into consideration in art. 7 of the Balduzzi decree n. 158/2012 and in the so-called tax delegation, without however arriving at an overall reorganization in a framework legislation
– that the protection of public health as well as the protection of public order require timely interventions also by the local authorities in charge given
– the resolution approved unanimously by the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region on 18 12 2012 with which the government is asked for a complete framework legislation which on the one hand guarantees homogeneity of interventions throughout the national territory and on the other then allows the individual Regions to equip themselves with legislative instruments inserted in a clearer and more defined regulatory environment
– sentence n.300/2011 of the Constitutional Court which recognizes the legitimacy of the Municipalities and Regions to intervene on the matter acknowledged
- that in the territory of the province of Bologna only a few municipalities currently have specific legislation on the subject
calls on the Government
– to complete the regulatory process undertaken with Legislative Decree 158/2012 on gambling addiction
– to promptly implement the implementing decree defining the minimum distances of game points from sensitive places, also in order to avoid administrative and constitutional disputes that could be generated by the adoption of legislative or regulatory measures by territorial government bodies
– to approve a finally complete national framework legislation in terms of content and device for the State to recover the government and the political planning on the activities of the entire gaming sector and therefore also on the gambling sector
