The hearing

Public gaming, Cangianelli: ‘Without a coherent national framework, prevention loses its effectiveness’

According to the president of Egp-Fipe, the lack of a consistent regulatory framework “prevents proper planning of the network and actually undermines the very safeguards that we would like to strengthen”

by Pietro Menzani

10 June 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Prevention

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

“Without a coherent national framework, prevention loses its effectiveness and unregulated gambling gains ground.” The alarm regarding the state of the legal public gaming system in Italia was raised by Emmanuele Cangianelli, president of the Italian Association of Public Gaming Operators (Egp-Fipe), during a hearing before the Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee.

The association’s appeal comes just a few days after the government put the brakes on the reorganisation of land-based gambling. The reform, in fact, appears to have stalled: the draft implementing decree for the tax delegation prepared by the Ministry of the Economy has not received the go-ahead from the Prime Minister’s Office, allowing the delegation to expire without any action being taken in the sector. Among the unresolved issues that are said to have halted the process is the problem of the distances between gaming venues and sensitive locations such as schools and care homes.

Regulatory deadlock

Egp-Fipe believes that the legal public gaming sector is currently in a state of regulatory deadlock due to successive extensions of licences, uncoordinated local interventions and the lack of a comprehensive reorganisation at national level. The risk, according to the association, is that the effectiveness of prevention policies and the stability of the legal network will be compromised.

When questioned by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on the division of powers between different levels of government, Cangianelli emphasised that ‘the system is at a standstill due to repeated extensions and inconsistent regional rules’ and that this his deadlock ‘prevents proper planning of the network and actually weakens the very safeguards that we would like to strengthen’.

According to Egp-Fipe, the problem lies not so much in the formal scope of responsibilities, but rather in the absence of a unified governance structure for the sector. The lack of uniform rules across the whole country has, over time, weakened the organisation of authorised supply due to a stratification of uncoordinated regional and local regulations.

Online and underground gambling

“The evidence,” added the president of Egp-Fipe, “is that where physical supply is strictly restricted, the problem is not reduced but merely shifted. Gambling shifts towards online platforms or the black market, where there is no oversight. This renders local measures largely ineffective in achieving the stated objective and introduces significant distortions in terms of the legality and sustainability of the authorised network.”

According to the association, in fact, certain measures adopted at local level – such as social distancing markers and time restrictions – have not proved effective, as they have merely led to a shift towards digital channels that are not fully controlled.

Prevention

During the hearing, Cangianelli finally reiterated the need for measures to prevention of a behavioural nature that make use of tools already available or currently being implemented, such as self-exclusion systems, tracking of gambling behaviour and technological monitoring solutions.

However, it remains essential to establish a stable national framework, without which even the most advanced tools – according to the association – would be unable to produce satisfactory results. Cangianelli concluded that ‘clear governance is needed. The regions can play a role, but within a shared national plan. Otherwise, we will continue to see a series of piecemeal measures that do not solve the problem and destabilise the entire licensing system’.