The practice of gambling in 2023
Bills proposing the closure of traditional gambling in Romania
Article from the series “Gambling Practice“, by Anchidim Zăgrean, FedBet Vice President and President of ROMBET
In the spring parliamentary session of this year, a series of legislative initiatives, which ran on a conveyor belt, practically aim at the disappearance of traditional gambling in Romania, even if their initiators are aware of the fact that they flagrantly violate, through the proposals made, the rights and the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by both the fundamental law of Romania and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Let’s go through, briefly, some provisions of these legislative initiatives submitted to the parliament, with the stated purpose, in the statements of reasons, to reduce the effect of gambling on young people as well as to reduce the dependence of players on this entertaining activity:
1. The draft law, under debate in the Senate, under the number L312/2023, supported in the mass media by Simonis Alfred-Robert – PSD deputy, head of the parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies – bearing the signature of 135 PSD parliamentarians, which has the following provisions:
a) Prohibition of self-excluded or undesirable persons on the premises of gambling venues;
b) The space proposed for authorization must be located no more than 50 m from the territorial limit of the city/municipality or commune, including the municipality of Bucharest, as provided for in art. 95 of the Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2019 on the Administrative Code, with subsequent amendments and additions;
c) Applicants must have a location permit, issued by the local council of the competent territorial administrative unit. The content of the opinion and the procedure for obtaining it are established by the methodological norms of law enforcement;
d) The space proposed for authorization is not located less than 300 m from an educational establishment, including its related campuses, a culture, art, health, social, religious and other similar establishment or within their premises; it is forbidden to carry out gambling in spaces which, due to their location, would lead to the obstruction of traffic or to the limitation of free access to other locations of interest (entrances to buildings, pedestrian passages, public transport stations, etc.);
e) In localities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, no license to operate gambling can be granted;
f) These provisions do not apply to the premises where traditional and remote lotto games are held, luck, luck plus and super luck, express and lotteries;
(to be continued in the next issue)
