Transferring the blackjack table online if vote in French Parliament succeeds
Credit: Public Domain
When one looks at Gibraltar and the number of online gaming companies that continue to keep offices on the Rock despite Brexit it becomes clear how widespread internet gambling has become across Europe.
In Spain it is taken a step further with many small towns having one or two actual gambling halls furnished at no inconsiderable cost and sports TV is littered with online betting adverts.
This is a relatively new phenomena but it certainly seems to have grown incredibly since the pandemic and ranges from low stakes bingo to high stakes card games with everything in between.
France considers approving online casinos
The French Government has tended to be opposed to certain areas of online gaming and apart from Cyprus (which surprisingly welcomes online gambling businesses to set up in that country) it is the only European Union member to ban the majority of online casinos.
France currently has one exception to the rule and that is Poker which may be played online as it is considered more of a game of skill than chance and has not been a traditional game played in French casinos.
Proposal to amend 2025 Budget plan
The French Government intend to amend the 2025 budget plan to allow for this change to take place but will need to see a positive majority vote in order for the amendment to be passed so that it can be in line with the majority of EU members.
According to reports following the announcement, due to the absence of legal online betting of this type, an illegal market has been created with an estimated value of around €1.5 billion a year.
Protection for gamblers and a new area to tax
Whilst it sounds very impressive that the Government wants to ensure gamblers are protected by the introduction of enforceable rules, it does become clear that if you can divert the proceeds of uncontrolled gambling to legitimate, registered sources then there will undoubtedly be a major tax pot waiting to be collected.
Needless to say, with Europe’s highest number of actual casino open in France, owners are not in favour of this proposal and are lobbying against the plan, claiming that many casinos will close with a loss of more than 12,000 jobs.
