The French government held a meeting to receive feedback from stakeholders.
France.- This week, the French government held a meeting with gambling operators and other stakeholders to discuss their plan to regulate online casinos in the country. This move came after the government postponed plans to legalize and regulate the market amid criticism from the land-based casino sector.
The Wednesday meeting was attended by land-based casino operators, stakeholders in horse racing, and online gambling operators. Members of parliament and associations of mayors were also present, along with a surprise appearance from the British Betting and Gaming Council and major British operators like Bet365.
The government had planned to regulate online casinos next year to generate much-needed tax revenue. However, the trade body for land-based casinos, Casinos de France, warned that the move could put many land-based operators out of business. Over 100 local mayors also wrote to the government opposing the measure.
The government argues that the lack of a regulated online casino segment in France has resulted in a strong illegal offering that is estimated to raise between EUR748m and EUR1.500m a year. Meanwhile, it needs to increase tax revenues to reduce the country's debt and public deficit, which stands at 5.5 percent of GDP. While the government intends to raise taxes on the gaming sector in general, it believes that regulating online casinos could generate EUR1.000m.
According to the text of the withdrawn amendment, online casino operators would have paid 27 percent of gross gaming revenues. The total tax rate on the vertical would have been 55.6 percent. However, Casinos de France claims that an open and competitive online casino market would cause the government to lose approximately EUR450m in tax revenues from land-based casinos.
The government intended to open a competitive online casino market to all commercial operators, but Casinos de France is asking for existing land-based casino operators to be granted an exclusivity period. The vice president of the body, Fabrice Paire, who is part of the Partouche board of directors, has argued that the regulation of online poker in 2010 harmed existing operators, as it allowed former grey market operators to legally enter the market immediately with the benefit of their existing customer databases.
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Some are in favor of allowing AFJEL members to provide digital products for land-based casinos, allowing them to enter the market without having to develop operations themselves. The opinion of the lottery operator FDJ is likely to be influential and it may become a major player following the recent acquisition of the Swedish online gambling operator Kindred. Surprisingly, it expressed concerns about online casinos at Wednesday's meeting.
France is one of the only countries in Western Europe and the only EU country, besides Cyprus, where online casinos remain illegal. This is despite the regulation of sports betting and online poker. The national regulator, the ANJ, recently announced a campaign against unlicensed operators, seeking to clarify to the public that the sector is illegal.
