France | Online casinos: the government decides not to legislate immediately

The government is backtracking on the opening of online casinos. An amendment tabled last week by the government planned to authorize online casinos by order in France, the only country in the European Union with Cyprus where this means of gambling is prohibited, while setting its level of taxation. “This opening comes from bringing the framework of the games into line with our main European neighbors,” this text specified.

To justify this measure, the government highlighted the fact that “this ban has been accompanied by the development of a significant illegal supply in recent years. According to the study commissioned at the end of 2023 by the National Gaming Authority, the gross gaming product generated by the illegal offer of online gambling in France would be between 748 million and 1.5 billion euros, i.e. between 5% and 11% of the overall gambling market.

Necessary consultation

In addition, the Addiction Federation had also sounded the alarm, online casinos being considered one of the most addictive games.

Faced with this bronca, the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, preferred to withdraw the text. “There was talk of the government tabling an amendment. This is no longer the case. I believe that we must first work among ourselves,” he said on Radio J this Sunday. “I am very vigilant on this subject. You must not make mistakes. This must not penalize a certain number of players, particularly physical casinos,” he added. “I think we need consultation. We need to sit around the table with the ministers concerned to look,” he concluded.