Promising Changes Applied to French Gambling Legislation

Posted: February 5, 2010

Updated: October 4, 2017

The situation for gamblers in France can be called nothing short of turbulent when it comes to legislation. While those who feel

The situation for gamblers in France can be called nothing short of turbulent when it comes to legislation. While those who feel the need to gamble can simple enjoy online casinos in France, the sites that they must use have to hosted in countries where online gambling is legal.

Those gambling in brick and mortar facilities are facing no turmoil. These institutions are legal and have been so for quite some time (remember, the French came up with today’s standard deck). The very active parts of French gambling law all pertain to the online gambling industry.

The reason behind the online gambling industry’s ever-changing status in France is, all-in-all, for the benefit of the people. At this point the government has an almost complete monopoly on online gambling and the European Commission is attempting to get them to change that.

Up to this point there has not been a lot of movement regarding the legislation that covers internet gambling in France. This is due to the fact that some of the provisions in the most current proposal would have damaged the state-owned gambling companies greatly. It appears, however, that those in the senate have come to their senses, and changes will finally be made.

The current bill proposed that companies applying for a license in France should shut down their existing lists of French player accounts as a prerequisite to obtaining a French online gambling license.

Being that no company was willing to do so, the applicants and the legislature reached a kind of judicial stalemate. Just this week the French senate announced that it will remove this problematic requirement from the list. It looks as though there will be a much better selection of online casinos in France, just in time for the long awaited World Cup. There is still a long way to go in legislation, however, before this dream can be a reality.

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