BANNING SLOT MACHINES IN TOWNS WITH A POPULATION OF LESS THAN 15,000. REFLECTION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EUROPEAN AND CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES
by Vidrean – Capusan Tudor Dumitru Lawyer, UNBR Assistant Professor, Faculty of European Studies, UBB Cluj – Napoca
Under the pressure of a complicated election year, the Romanian Parliament adopted Law no. 107/2024 in response to a populist impulse: banning slot machines in towns with a population of less than 15,000 inhabitants. Obviously, this law was adopted without taking into account fundamental principles originating in European law and the Romanian Constitution.
To begin with, we will refer to the legal texts that have an impact on Law No 107/2024, namely the provisions of Articles 16, 17 and 20 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights:
Article 16
Freedom to conduct a business The freedom to conduct a business shall be recognised in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices.
Article 17
Right of ownership
(1) Everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath property he has lawfully acquired. No one may be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest, in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law and in return for fair and timely compensation for the loss he has sustained. The use of property may be regulated by law within the limits imposed by the public interest.
Article 20
Equality before the law
All persons are equal before the law.
It is worth mentioning that similar texts are also found in the Romanian Constitution, in Articles 16, 44 and 135, which shows that national constitutional standards are fully compatible with European ones. The question therefore legitimately arises as to what extent Law No 107/2024, which introduces a ban on the installation of slot machines in localities with a population of less than 15 000 inhabitants, complies with the European and constitutional standards referred to.
From our analysis, the answer to this question is negative. First of all, from the explanatory memorandum of Law No 107/2024, it can be seen that the Romanian legislator did not even formally carry out an analysis of the compatibility of the ban with the legal texts mentioned. We consider that this is a first signal that the ban introduced by Law No 107/2024 is contrary to European and constitutional guarantees.
Secondly, there is no analysis of the content of Law No 107/2024 in relation to the fact that Romania is a market economy (fair competition being seriously affected), or in relation to the discriminatory nature of this legal provision. Thus, State intervention by restricting the conduct of a commercial activity, under the model proposed by Law No 107/2024, distances Romania from European values. It should also be noted that there is no explanation from the Romanian legislator regarding the 15 000 inhabitants limit.
BANNING SLOT MACHINES
Through propaganda, the Romanian legislator argues that this measure is necessary to protect the population from a vice such as gambling. As such, the question legitimately arises as to why only residents of towns with fewer than 15 000 inhabitants should benefit from this protection. At the same time, criticism can also be levelled at the notion of 15 000 inhabitants, given that in Romania the population census is only carried out once every 10 years, but population fluctuations have an accelerated trend. A so-called population protection measure must be adapted to current realities.
In conclusion, it can be seen that this ban has no legal basis, but is merely a populist measure designed to meet the needs of an election year. As such, we believe that Law No 107/2024 should be challenged before the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Constitutional Court of Romania, which should be an approach taken by all gambling operators affected by this blatant ban adopted against European and constitutional principles, especially since, as is clear from the Collee case law, any measure adopted by the Member States of the European Union must comply with the principle of proportionality, the basic principle of any democracy and rule of law.
CONTACT:
Vidrean – Capusan Tudor Dumitru
Lawyer, UNBR
Assistant Professor, Faculty of European Studies, UBB Cluj – Napoca
Specialization: European Union Law
tudor.vidrean@ubbcluj.ro,
0748.048.104
CJEU, preliminary ruling of 27.09.2007, Case C-146/05
