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"The Council of State, in inviting the ADM to take this into account for the preparation of the betting notice, confirms that the agreement reached in the Unified Conference in 2017 is valid - under the subsequent law 205/17 art. 1 - even if it was not implemented by ministerial decree".

This is how Stefano Sbordoni, a gaming lawyer and president of the Utis trade union, comments on the opinion of the Council of State on the betting race. For Sbordoni, in essence, "it is time that the Regions, in enacting and amending their laws, conformed to that agreement. Otherwise," he commented to Agimeg, "there will remain situations that create only confusion, and that do not give any result in containing the pathological effects. On several occasions, however, the Council of State itself has judged the municipal regulations to be legitimate, despite the fact that the gaming operators - in the various appeals filed - had tried to leverage the agreement. "I have never read in any judgment that the agreement was worthless," says Sbordoni. "It is therefore necessary to see what has been written as an appeal. The judges are very good at grasping all the inaccuracies contained in an act, despite the fact that the principle recalled is unexceptionable. For the president of Utis, however, this opinion can be used in future appeals against local rules: "We hope it will be cited, and that it will be done in the right way. We, as Utis, have always maintained - even in the face of the then undersecretary Baretta who stated the opposite - that that agreement had the force of law. We hope that this opinion will serve to raise awareness on all sides. Also to the Regions and Local Authorities that have unanimously signed the Agreement".