French National Assembly votes on online gambling

[The Buzz]

The French National Assembly voted in the first reading of its draft on online gambling today. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) says that today’s vote worsens the conditions of the market opening.

There are several amendments that enforce restrictions against new European entrants, amongst other things.

The EGBA Web site has a real good write-up of the situation:

According to Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA, “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.”

Some of the new restrictions passed today include:

* The resetting of customer accounts: New entrants will be forced to close down the .com accounts of their French customers until they are granted a license. This is clear a distortion of competition as FDJ and PMU will be able to continue offering their services without interruption.

* Discrimination against operators in other EU jurisdictions: New entrants from other EU jurisdictions may see their application for a license turned down even if they have reciprocal EU tax reporting arrangements with France.

* Further limitation of pay back ratio: Further limits of the average pay back ratio to customers (which includes the sums of the bets (i.e. bonuses) and not the stakes) will make French consumers spend more to get a better return on their bets. This additional obstacle will only serve the purpose of limiting the level of competition by making it less attractive to new market entrants and restricting consumer choice.

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It could affect online gambling popularity around Europe if they are can't cast a higher votes. Other continents including Africa already online gambling legal.

[JonOfFinsbury]

The bill was have to be cleared by the French Senate before it turns into law. But I agree, this is all a bit scary. (And from a Brit's view of France and protectionism within the EU, also pretty typical).

For anyone new to the issue, here's a handy round-up of all the different people objecting to the French draft laws that I wrote earlier. With a bit of luck all those different forces combined will be enough to convince the Senate not to let the bill go ahead in its present form