France has a plan to license and regulate online casino gambling before the World Cup. The draft law has been approved by the National Assembly (the lower house of Parliament) and now is under consideration by the Senate.
European online gambling operators are glad to hear that the Senate ruled one of the conditions in the draft law is unfair and modified it. The requirement removed was for operators to close down accounts of existing French clients before applying for licenses under the new policy. This was deemed unfair because many private operators cater to French players. Instead, operators will need to create new sites with an “.fr” extension and move existing French players from the current sites to the new ones.
Land casino operators in France are not happy with the decision and will have to apply for their own online gambling licenses under the new policy. Three of the land-based casinos, Tranchant, Barrière and Joagroupe, have sued many European online gambling operators in the Paris Criminal Court for breaking French law by taking players from France. The trio of land-based casinos are requesting the operators be given a two-year ban being given licenses. Sportingbet, Unibet, 888 Holdings and Bwin were some big names included in the alleged operators. Sportingbet legal representative Martine Karsenty-Ricard said the suit has no bearing because the Paris Court has no jurisdiction over companies registered outside of France. The court’s decision is expected this week.
European online gambling operators have some French players, but only a small portion of the otherwise untapped French market. Licenses would enable them to advertise and promote their services in the country.