27/10/2009, Online casino
The French National Assembly approved the legislation regarding the licensing of the private companies for online gambling on the 13th of October.
France considers poker, sports betting and horse racing betting as games of skill and it will not allow the online gaming operators to offer games of luck on their sites.

The new regulation will not permit games of luck to be offered, but the term of “luck” or “skill” are differently seen by different states.
France, Spain and Italy are some of the states that received warnings from the European Commission because their online gambling laws are not in compliance with the European Union's trade agreements and work to change their laws on gambling in order to come into compliance with the Community law.
The new bill would end the domination of online gaming by France' two state monopolies, Pari-Mutuel Urbain and Francais des Jeux.
The European Commission accused France of discriminatory practices favoring domestic operators.

The bill to liberalise and regulate the national online gaming market passed with 302 votes in favour and 206 votes against and it will go on to the Senate for further debates.
If the law is approved, the private companies will obtain a gaming license and France will introduce taxes on the new licensees.

The companies applying for the new licenses were forced to close all their current French accounts for at least six months before applying for a license.
Any operator based in areas where taxes are lower, mainly in Gibraltar, may not receive a license.

The new restrictions also include discrimination against operators in other EU jurisdictions and the limitation of the pay back ratio (which includes the sums of the bets and not the stakes).
EGBA thinks that the taxation and the overall proposed terms make the French offer uncompetitive in a global market.

“At the time when Europe is watching the development of France’s reform, the introduction of even more unjustified restrictions is threatening to corrupt the efficient workings of the market. If the Senate votes along these lines, the prospect of a French market that is both viable and compliant with EU law is a long-way off,” said Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the European Gaming Betting Association (EGBA).

The draft will now go to the Senate for debate and the government hopes that the new laws will be effective before the World Cup football in 2010.