France backpaddles online casino legislation

The government of French Prime Minister Michel Bernier has withdrawn a previous proposal to legalize online casino gambling in the country and introduce a 55% tax rate on revenues derived from the sector.

Franche pumps the breaks on online casino legalization

The proposal was supposed to come into effect as part of the 2025 budget and see the launch of online casino sites at some point next year, but Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin has now confirmed that this timeline may change as further discussions are needed.

The announcement of online casinos has quickly sent trade groups and local leaders up in arms, with more than a hundred mayors and the Casinos de France, a trade group, proclaiming themselves against the legislation, citing social ills and devastating economic knock-on effects should online casinos be legalized.

Minister Saint-Martin said in an interview for Radio J that more work needs to be first done on the proposal in order to introduce it.

The minister acknowledged that land-based casinos may be the ones to bear the brunt of legalization, with the trade group already cautioning that as many as 30% of all land-based casino venues would be shuttered should online casinos launch.

A letter signed by more than 100 mayors in France argued that should land-based casinos go, their local budgets would collapse as in some places, the brick-and-mortar gambling establishments were the mainstay of the town in terms of budgeting.

Heeding the industry call – but the proposal is not completely off the table

Commenting on the decision to put a pause on the proposed launch of an online casino market, Casinos de France President Grégory Rabuel said that the association was relieved to see the government heed to industry calls and revisit its efforts to regulate online casinos engaging in consultations and a dialogue with stakeholders instead.

However, Minister Saint-Martin has said that the government is not pulling the plug on the idea altogether. Rather, the government will collect more input. France is only one of two European Union members to not regulate online casinos.

The country is seeing increasing growth in its black-market operations, particularly in sports gambling, which has alarmed the regulator.

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