French Close To Legalising Online Gambling
7th April, 2010
The French National Assemble has voted in favour of legalizing online gambling meaning that they have all but officially opened up the French gambling market to international operators according to eGaming Review
The bill’s first reading was passed back in February by the Senate and only has to be approved by the European Union and France’s Conseil d’Etat (Supreme Court) and Conseil Constitutionnel (constitutional council). This means that members of the French community will be able to place bets online ahead of the 2010 World Cup. In a statement budget Minister François Baroin said he was “convinced this solution will allow us to gradually drain the black-market of online gaming by creating a legal alternative”.
As a result, monopolies La Francaise Des Jeux (FDJ) and Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU) have taken measures to enhance their product offerings. For example FDJ who is the second largest lottery operator in the world acquired LVS last month who is a betting software provider. They will provide FDJ with fixed odds sports betting once the French online betting market opens.
Similarly, PMU signed a deal with party gaming to provide them with an online poker product and have a second tie with Paddy power to provide fixed offs risk management and pricing tools ahead of the legalization.
By Faye
