Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 24 November 2022 – Coral Srl v Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli

(Case C-730/22)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Coral Srl

Defendants: Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli

Question referred

‘Does Directive 2014/23/EU, ¹ where it is considered to be applicable and, in any event, the general principles deriving from Articles 26, 49, 56 and 63 TFEU as interpreted and applied by the case-law of the Court of Justice, in particular in the light of the principle of non-discrimination, the principle of proportionality and the protection of competition and the free movement of services and capital, preclude the application of national rules under which the national legislature or the public administration may, during the so-called ‘technical extension’ renewed several times in the last decade in the sector of gaming concessions, unilaterally affect ongoing relations, introducing the obligation to pay fees for the concessions, which were originally not due, and subsequently increasing the fees on several occasions, and always setting them as a fixed amount for all concessionaires irrespective of turnover, as well as imposing further constraints on the activities of concessionaires such as prohibiting the transfer of premises and making participation in the future procedure for the re-award of concessions subject to participation by the operators in the extension?’

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¹     Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts (OJ 2014 L 94, p. 1).