Significant changes have been proposed in Romania to shift the age of gambling from 18 to 21.
The change comes from two sets of political parties, submitted to Romania’s Parliament, amidst major political transformation in the country.
Raluca Turcan, a Minister of the Liberal Party (PNL), put forward one of the key draft proposals urging the party to support efforts for Parliament to tighten the framework around gambling.
Turcan called for PNL ministers to back her proposal as the “simplest measure to restrict gambling at the most fragile age”, and argued that raising the threshold would give young adults a “window of emotional and financial maturation”.
It would go against the grain of the other markets in the EU, with Romania joining Greece in making the adjustment from 18 to 21.
Greek problem gambling rates amongst young people have remained relatively high compared to other EU countries.
The PNL minister cited the age of 18-21 as the “most emotionally and financially vulnerable stage of those entering adulthood” – emphasising that it is vital that some form of financial maturity is developed at these ages.
Furthermore, her proposal builds on a proposal of a youth report made by the international charity Save the Children, which also sought to strengthen safeguards for eradicating gambling advertising exposure to a younger generation.
A second bill put forward by Diana Stoica of the Save Romania Union (USR)also took aim at the current framework around advertising in the country, not only lobbying for the legal age of gambling to be raised to 21, but also to put time restrictions on marketing.
Her proposal introduces a 06:00–24:00 ban on online gambling advertising, in a move that she states better reflects the digital habits of minors and young adults.
The fragmentation of the Romanian government underpins the significance of the two separate bills being put forward, as their progression looks likely even amidst governmental complications.
