France Jurisdiction profile

 

In this section, we’ll take a look at French gambling law including online and land-based legislation, regulation, opportunities, history, and any coming changes. Of topline importance to the online gambling sector today is a potential change in the law as it applies to remote or online gambling. However, that change which we will look at more in-depth further in the review is not expected to be implemented right away on a broad scale.

Players are legally allowed to choose any offshore operator they like under current law.

One of the primary sources of information for this document is an H2 Gambling Capitol (pay wall) Summary of the French market from a regulatory perspective. Those with a potential vested interest in the subject should find such a source and invest the fees necessary for detailed market analyses and other data as it may apply to specific interests. The Law Reviews’ Gambling Law is an excellent source of well-cited scholarly information compiled by specialist law firms around the world.

Even with “ultimate source” material such as that produced by H2 Gambling Capital two challenges remain. One is the ability to provide actual numbers such as gambler participation and actual revenue numbers generated by the gray market, black market, and illegal “brigand” online gambling sites for obvious reasons. The next challenge would be in how much detail to present.

Our solution has been to provide information that should cover all interests and in particular cases, to delve a bit deeper for those with more than a passing interest. A variety of resources remain open to those seeking more information such as World Casino News.

The Current Gambling Landscape in France

French gambling law is very strict and perhaps a bit arcane to the outside observer, but a closer look reveals that land-based casinos are indeed legal in many places - very specific geolocations - but not in Paris.

French Territories

The gambling law not only applies to the actual land mass of France but also, with few exceptions, to French territories nearby or overseas such as Saint Barthelemy and Réunion, very specific carveouts exist for some locales but overall, all locations under French rule are subject to the law.

Paris

Large American cities have held off pro-casino forces for decades or centuries, and a few have softened their stances such as Chicago, America’s third-largest city which has approved a full-scale Las Vegas-style casino resort by Bally’s and New York City, with a metro area holding about 19 million people which may become the site of the state’s first casino resort in the downstate area - a measure approved by voters there several years ago but embargoed long enough for other new casinos to establish themselves in the upstate regions.

Paris, on the other hand, has been specifically barred from having a casino since 1920 as has any location within 100 kilometers of the city. That is not likely to change any time soon. Paris is the only European Capitol with no casinos.

For some time, a form of gambling gathering place with a limited number of game types called a “gaming circle” was allowed in Paris but those have been phased out in favor of an experimental alternative known as the gaming club. The trial run began on January 1, 2018, and the law expires or sunsets on January 1, 2025, whereafter lawmakers will presumably determine whether the experiment was a success and whether to continue authorizing the legal entities “as they are” or with modifications in the rules.

Outside of Paris

French casinos are only allowed to operate in very specific geo-locations such as cities by the sea. Cities with populations over half a million with a major tourism base to their economies may also be able to host a gambling venue. Hot springs, ski resorts, or other cities with something special about their climates are good candidates even if the population does not exceed 500,000. Cities where operators are willing to give up an amount equal to or greater than 40% of their financing to a national arts venue such as an opera house stand a chance of winning a license tender if they hold a minimum number of annual events.

Online Gambling in France

In a broad sense, there is onshore and offshore gambling in France but to date, no casinos have been authorized to operate online in the country or in French territories. While French denizens do have legitimate, government-sanctioned gambling opportunities online betting has been restricted to horse racing, sports betting, and poker for the most part as well as to certain lotteries.

Illegal or gray market operators who operate outside of French gambling law can face severe civil or even criminal penalties. However, the government does not take direct legal action against French gamblers, preferring to rely on a cautionary stance. In a nutshell, citizens are made aware of the fact that unlicensed, unregulated operators do not answer to the government so players are not afforded protection under French law.

That’s not to say that the government has “left the gate open” for French gamblers to stray from the authorized providers of allowed games. The government has broad powers to block internet access to unauthorized websites as well as to block financial transactions to and from websites whether deposits or withdrawals.

To sum up online gambling law in France for the player - either gamble within the law or you will be on your own if a problem should ever arise. However, you are free to gamble however, whenever, and on whatever ever you like offshore if you choose to.

French gambling history through a regulatory lens

French gambling law has been “liberalized” throughout the decades. However, such so-called progressive changes have almost always regulated, restricted, and defined things so narrowly and authorized providers so stringently that they have only provided for de facto state monopolies to exist for the most part. The exception to that norm was the Online Gambling Law of May 2010 which authorized sports betting, horse betting, and poker over the Internet on the condition that operators obtain licenses from the ANJ (National Gaming Authority). While initial interest was high, only about a dozen competitive companies remain as operators.

Fast-forward to 2023 and we see new legislation introduced that would open up online casino gaming to commercially licensed operators. The measure still allows near-absolute control of the online French market through a moratorium on licenses to any entity except those directly controlled by existing French land-based casino operators. Bill 1248 would then allow actual competition in the commercial online casino space.

Today, there are no online casinos authorized, licensed, or regulated by the French government or its actors. This section will be updated by January 1, 2030, if any important changes to the bill or finished law occur.

Important milestones in French gambling regulations

Following is a fairly comprehensive list of important dates affecting the French legal gambling regulatory landscape. Complete and strictly vetted lists are available from pay sites such as H2 Gambling Capital or by scouring official gazettes or online announcements by the French government and compiling the data

2009: The French Online Gambling and Gaming Law, also known simply as The French Gambling Act (Loi relative à l'ouverture à la concurrence et à la régulation du secteur des jeux d'argent et de hasard en ligne) legalized online sports betting, horse race betting, and poker. Other “ring games” were potentially included but regulations were only published for poker. The law would take effect in 2010.

June 2010: The online gambling regulatory authority for France, ARJEL (Autorité de Régulation des Jeux En Ligne) was established. ARJEL is the overarching online gambling authority in France, responsible for issuing licenses, monitoring operators, and ensuring compliance with gambling laws, rules, and regulations.

June 2010: ARJEL issued the first licenses for online gambling operators to offer services to French residents whether in-country or in outside territories.

June 2010: French and Italian authorities signed the first online poker liquidity sharing agreements. These allowed French and Italian players to compete against each other, expanding the pool of players significantly.

May 2011: ARJEL signed a liquidity sharing agreement with Spain. Like the Italian agreement, this enabled French and Spanish players to compete against each other in online poker games while staying within the laws of their respective countries.

June 2014: A new tax regime for online gambling operators was implemented by the French government. The change was lauded as fairer by operators as it replaced the previous tax on handle or turn-over with a tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR).

2015: ARJEL introduced measures to regulate daily fantasy sports (DFS) allowing operators to offer DFS games under very specific conditions.

January 2018: The government expanded taxation to all online games as well as sports.

May 2018: Stricter rules for the collection and processing of personal data in online gambling go into effect in France under the EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

2019: This was a banner year with a singular important development - the government announced plans to reform the market, including the possibility of changing online gambling regulations and the creating of a new regulatory authority.

January 2020: A public consultation on gambling regulations was launched. The request sought input from stakeholders and the public in order to give decision makers the ability to craft future reforms.

February 2020: A new regulatory authority called Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ARJEL) replaced ANJ with expanded responsibilities and aims to ensure the protection of players and prevent gambling-related harm.

June 2020: ANJ published a strategic plan for 2020 through 2022. The plan outlined the Authority’s objectives and priorities.

August 2021: In a move questioned by several “freedom advocates”, the French government introduced legislation to further reform gambling. The measures purportedly involved tradeoffs between freedom of choice and the government’s duties to strengthen player protection, combat gambling addiction, and increase the “transparency” of gambling activities.

September 2021: A public consultation on gambling advertising and promotions was launched by the ANJ. Ahead of regulatory changes in advertising, the NAJ intended to consult stakeholders.

October 2021: The ANJ issued a public statement to online betting operators informing them that consumer law prohibits them from limiting bet sizes or refusing to accept a bet may be a violation of consumer law. The law does not apply to self-excluded gamblers or those found to be betting excessively

French online gambling regulatory changes

May 2023: Legislation was introduced to authorize, regulate, and tax online casino games in France for the first time ever.

Players have always had the freedom to choose where to play offshore. However, the government has often restricted certain elements of that “freedom of choice” by the forced delisting of foreign operators from search engines that serve the country, instructing internet service providers to block the internet addresses of known overseas providers, and interfering with international payment processing between offshore casinos and French players whether at home in a protectorate or regular territory.

The bill, (1248) introduced by Mr. Philippe Latombe would allow land-based casino operators in France to accept French players at online casinos in France they operate. A five-year moratorium on other licensees would allow the French operators a chance to establish market dominance and guard against outside competition long enough to establish themselves along with market dominance.

Going forward in France with conclusions

If history informs the future, observers of French online gambling “policy” as well as proposed legislation and eventual law can probably expect an increased level of oversight in the existing realms as well as a constriction of freedom for online players as the new regime evolves.

A reasoned analysis suggests that the currently introduced legislation to “Authorize casino operators to offer online casino games, the marketing, commissioning, and maintenance of which are carried out under the responsibility of supply and maintenance companies,” will be passed in its current form or only slightly modified.

Online casinos for French players should become available prior to or on January 1, 2023, and those venues will be operated by existing French casino licensees on land. The moratorium makes sense in that it will allow the current “monopoly” license holders to establish dominance in the field as well as allow them to capture revenues for the government even as real-time auditing and tax payment systems are implemented as seems to be an emerging trend.

The length of the moratorium, any potential “bad actor” clauses, and further advertising restrictions or forced exclusion measures including source of funds or bet limits, and responsible gaming measures are fluid in this assessment.

Once the proposed moratorium expires, or even prior, it is not unreasonable to expect more draconian policies in regard to payment blocking, and search engine delisting, among other protections against the flight of capital to be entertained or added to law or policy. Once all of the other pieces of the puzzle are in place it is entirely possible that the government will change its stance on whether France will remain a grey market, wherein players are free to choose where to play without interference - regardless of any “white-listing” or even “black-listing” of offshore sites rendering all real money gambling that does not occur through French Homeland Security Code (HSC) approved sites illegal on both sides of the equation.

For today, French players are free to choose from among any of the sites that continue to offer services to the region and its outlying territories and protectorates. Please choose wisely and consider relying on player-ranked and rated sites.