Yesterday, July 9th, a group of PD senators submitted to the Senate a draft bill that aims to achieve the gambling reorganisation previously pursued by the gambling decree the Government decided now to give up.
Indeed, a couple of week ago Under-Secretary Baretta announced the Government decided to remit to the Parliament the gambling reform project, because it had been found impossible to define an agreement with local administrations regarding their role in the authorisation of gambling premises on the territory.
At a Sistema Gioco Italia – Confindustria conference Baretta added the Government had been compelled to above-mentioned decision despite it had been fixed in the draft decree the second issue still pending in addition to local administration role, namely limitation of advertising. In that occasion he said it had been stated in the draft decree the total ban of advertising because “we have at last understood advertising is not necessary for gambling diffusion, perhaps, apart of an exception”. He didn’t mentioned the exception, and few people even noticed those four words, but he clearly meant online gambling. Apparently in Under-Secretary point of view total ban of advertising for online gambling could be possibly excessive but is a minor collateral damage in comparison with the importance of a political agreement on advertising with the strong transversal party of gambling opponents.
The final text of the draft decree had been fully copied in the draft bill now submitted to the Senate. Total ban of advertising is stated in following terms at article 31 of the bill: “It is absolutely forbidden any commercial communication, advertising, sponsorship and promotion of gambling brands and products distributed by ground-based and online networks”. Article 32 adds: “They are exempted from the prohibition as referred to in article 31 sponsorship that simply provides the use of the logo of products and trade marks, as well as institutional communications of licensees. They are also exempted from limitations messages aimed exclusively to social utility as campaigns aimed to prevent minors from gambling, prevention of problematic gambling, education to responsible gambling, as well as those supporting initiatives in favour of art, sport and culture. They are also exempted national lotteries as referred to in article 91, paragraph 1, letter a).”. Article 91, paragraph 1 mentions only the deferred-draw national lotteries, that only include New Year’s Day lottery and other few similar lotteries totally irrelevant in terms of volume.
The institutional and political decision makers that held a laic approach to gambling regulation decided at last advertising is an acceptable surrender against the prolonged attack taken by the strong ideological party that claims gambling is bad regardless of the quantity. Gambling had been explicitly equated to tobacco, not to alcohol.
What will happen now? It is not sure at all gambling reorder will be at last achieved by a Parliament’s law. In cannot instead be excluded it will be renewed the engagement to the Government for gambling reorder and the Government could at last define an agreement with local administration and publish its gambling delegation decree. It is difficult to predict how long it will take before new gambling legislation will be approved and then enter into effect. It could be few months or more. But it seems almost impossible actual provision on advertising in Senate gambling bill could be changed by a process internal to the Italian borders. Neither policy makers want to change it nor relevant lobbies are much interested to. And online gambling lobby is too weak in Italy.
Europe, i.e. the European Commission, that repeatedly affirmed advertising is needed to help consumer to recognize legal gambling offer from illegal one, and possibly European Supreme Court represent at that stage the only subjects that could defend Italian online gambling from total ban of advertising. It seems now time to concretely plan initiatives at European level, involving also gambling European associations, both to prevent the advertising ban and to claim against it in the event of its adoption.
