Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 30 April 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Oberösterreich (previously Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat des Landes Oberösterreich — Austria) — proceedings brought by Robert Pfleger, Autoart a.s., Mladen Vucicevic, Maroxx Software GmbH, Ing. Hans-Jörg Zehetner
(Case C-390/12) 1
(Article 56 TFEU — Freedom to provide services — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Articles 15 to 17, 47 and 50 — Freedom to choose an occupation, right to engage in work, freedom to conduct a business, right to property, right to an effective remedy and access to an impartial tribunal, ne bis in idem principle — Article 51 — Scope — Implementation of EU law — Games of chance — Restrictive legislation of a Member State — Administrative and criminal penalties — Overriding reasons in the public interest — Proportionality)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Landesverwaltungsgericht Oberösterreich (previously Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat des Landes Oberösterreich, Austria)
Parties to the main proceedings
Robert Pfleger, Autoart a.s., Mladen Vucicevic, Maroxx Software GmbH, Ing. Hans-Jörg Zehetner
Re:
Request for a preliminary ruling — Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat des Landes Oberösterreich — Interpretation of Article 56 TFEU and Articles 15 to 17, 47 and 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Games of chance — Member State's rules prohibiting, with criminal penalties, the operation of gaming machines with small winnings (“kleines Glücksspiel”) without a concession issued by the competent authority — Principle of proportionality
Operative part of the judgment
Article 56 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, where that legislation does not actually pursue the objective of protecting gamblers or fighting crime and does not genuinely meet the concern to reduce opportunities for gambling or to fight gambling-related crime in a consistent and systematic manner.
____________1 OJ C 343, 10.11.2012.