Online Gambling Market in France Opens Slowly, But Surely

Online Gambling Market in France Opens Slowly, But Surely
At this point, gambling is legal in all its most popular forms according to French gambling law. Though this may be the case, the government goes to great lengths to prevent this popular pastime from becoming a habit to its fans. 

Up until this point, the government was also noted as to making a great effort to protect its interests, namely taxes, by supporting a gambling industry monopoly within its borders. When internet gambling became popular, the powerful nation even expanded its gambling institutions to the online front. Regardless of their wishes, however, they met plenty of competition in the online sphere. 

Seeing that it was losing much of its revenue through its stubborn actions, the French legislation recently started exploring options on cracking open the monopoly and letting some of the competition in. These actions were heavily influenced by the wishes of the European Commission and an attempt at bringing France up to par with the European Union’s free trade agreement. 

The current bill, which is intended to open up the online gambling market in France, has just been passed by the Senate with a vote of 181 to 140. The bill still has a way to go before it becomes law, however. It has just been sent back to the House of Commons for a second reading, dated for March 30th. If passed again in the House of Commons, the bill will need approval from the EU, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council before being put into action. 

Internet gambling in France remains popular and, according to estimates, will continue to rise in popularity. If this bill makes the transition from bill to law rather quickly, the French will be able to bet on online sportsbooks in France by the 2010 World Cup.