EUROMAT protestează împotriva Legii votată în Parlamentul de la Budapesta, Lege prin care se interzic slot-urile în baruri și in sălile mici de jocuri.
Așa cum am informat, pe acest site, cititorii la momentul respectiv, săptămâna acesta Parlamentul de la Budapesta a votat o Lege prin care se interzice folosirea de slot-machines în baruri sau săli mici de jocuri de noroc.
Reacțiile internaționale nu s-au lăsat așteptate, astfel:
În Comunicatul de Presă primit la redacția Casino Life & Business Magazine, Euromat, Federația Europeană pentru Jocuri și Amuzament, atrage atenția că, în Ungaria, asociația organizatorilor de jocuri de noroc si amuzament MSZSZ, care este și membră a federației europene, are angajați peste 40.000 de oameni (direct sau indirect), oameni care își vor pierde locurile de muncă din cauza acestei noi Legi.
Și mai grav este că acestă Lege vine după ce alți 20.000 de oameni și-au pierdut locurile de muncă după ce Guvernul maghiar a decis, în luna noiembrie 2011, creșterea taxelor provenite din gaming.
Mai mult decât atât, Euromat atrage atenția că membrii asociației din Ungaria au făcut investiții masive în ultima perioadă, investiții care se vor pierde după intrarea în vigoare a acestei Legi.
Euromat consideră că această nouă Lege contravine Constituției și Legilor Uniunii Europene și protestează vehement.
Iată, în cele ce urmează, integral, Comunicatul de Presă primit la redacție vineri seara.
„ European Gaming and Amusement Federation
Europäische Verband der Unterhaltungsautomatenwirtschaft
Fédération Européenne des Jeux et d’Amusement
Rue du Trône 60 | 1st floor | Brussels 1050 | Belgium Phone +32 2 626 1993 • Fax +32 2 626 9501 URL www.euromat.org – Email. secretariat@euromat.org
PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release
EUROMAT outrage at Hungarian slot machine eradication
Friday, 5 October 2012 – The Hungarian Parliament has this week adopted legislation which provides for a total ban of all gaming machines, having no regard for the devastating social and economic impact of its decision. The only exemptions to this legislation are those gaming machines that are located in casinos which are licenced by a state-owned monopoly. In an extremely aggressive and anti-competitive move, the Hungarian Government has completely blind-sided the industry, and has left it no time to react.
According to data provided by EUROMAT’s Hungarian member association, MSZSZ, up to 40.000 European citizens currently employed –directly or indirectly- by the Hungarian gaming and amusement industry could lose their jobs in a matter of days. This alarming figure comes on top of the 20.000 people who have already lost their job as a result of the Hungarian Government introduction of an arbitrary increase of the gaming tax in November 2011. Moreover, the Hungarian gaming and amusement industry has made significant investments in the past months, as it was preparing, in particular, for the launch of server-based gaming, in accordance with new laws that were introduced earlier this year.
“The Hungarian Government has not only completely disregarded constitutional and EU laws, as well as the European Convention of Human Rights, but has clearly failed to understand the broader impact that its actions will have on society and economy in Hungary and across Europe”, said Annette Kok, EUROMAT’s President. “There are clear precedents which will be used to ensure that this anti-competitive move by a Member State will be challenged not only before the Hungarian Constitutional Court, but in particular also before the EU Institutions, the European Court of Justice and the Court of Human Rights and EUROMAT is ready to provide full support to its Hungarian member, MSZSZ, to do so”, Annette Kok stressed.
ENDS
* * * * * Note to Editors:
EUROMAT is the European Gaming and Amusement Federation, established in 1979, represents manufacturers, distributors and operators of gaming machines outside casinos of 18 European countries with a combined industry turnover of 21 billion Euro, directly employing approximately 250.000 European citizens, and accounting for 27% of the overall gambling sector. EUROMAT’s membership includes 23 national gaming associations from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France (observer), Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Sweden.”
