France stirs the spirits with proposed online casino legislation

France may soon introduce its online casino gambling legislation after the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier said that it would consider and most likely legalize iGaming as part of its next budget strategy.

France eyeing online casino legalization in 2025

The government is wrestling with one of the highest public debts relative to gross domestic product in the European Union, and Barnier is using this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

On the one hand, online casino games are already available in the market, an argument goes, with the exact value of the black market difficult to estimate but pinned at around €1.5bn.

Passing a legislation that legalizes online casinos will bring licensed operators and boost awareness for a regulated type of play that protects consumers from harm by offering them a more reliable gambling experience while limiting the size of the unlicensed and unauthorized gambling sites.

The introduction of a licensed online casino regime would mean additional funds for the state’s coffers, too. Barnier is planning to put a 55.6% tax on the newly-regulated online casino market according to NordLittoral Groupe, a French media outlet.

The tax rate would apply to the gross gaming revenue of online casinos, giving the government a very strong incentive to pursue such a course of action, especially with a gaping budget deficit to handle.

Gambling taxes are set to go only one way - up

A similar move is touted in the United Kingdom, where a double-digit on the taxes of both land-based and online casinos is rumored to be in the works.

Although the DCSM Secretary of State Lisa Nandy has played down the fears, and cautioned stakeholders to not "believe everything they read in the papers," a tax hike seems to be underway anyway.

However, not everyone is happy with the government’s budget-patching plan. For one, the French Gaming Association and its head, Gregory Rabuel have criticized the plan, arguing that the land-based sector would suffer significant losses.

There could be 15,000 jobs at stake, Rabuel said in a statement, lambasting the government’s proposal, and said that around 30% of the land-based sector properties could be forced to shutter their operations for good. Rabuel has likened the potential outcome as a "death sentence" to the land-based gaming sector.

The argument is tenable, but then again – it fails to acknowledge that online casinos are already operating illegally in the country. An estimated 5% to 11% of all gambling products offered in France originate from black market operations, which have harmful consequences for consumers, argues the President of the Autorité Nationale des Jeux, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin.

All in all, France is on the cusp of passing online casino legislation. Whether it will do in the exact terms outlined by Barnier remains to be seen.

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