France's opposition party wades into egaming law debate

FRANCE’S MAIN OPPOSITION party has waded into the debate on the draft legislation to liberalise online gambling currently taking place in France’s National Assembly.

French media reported an attempt by the Socialist Party (PS) to have the draft regulation rejected by the Assembly and sent back to the inquiry commission, but both motions were rejected.

However, the PS said current European legislation did not impose any changes on France’s gaming legislation as the government and others claim, and said that the “urgent priority is to apply the law” as it stands.

It also attacked the government’s draft legislation, denouncing “the blackmail for licences” and “lobbying pressure” exerted by operators looking to get licensed by the French authorities.

Budget Minister Eric Woerth retorted that “the worst policy was that of doing nothing”.

Woerth added that the regulation was the “fairest and most efficient” way of regulating the sector and that “not changing anything was not realistic” when taking into account the “plethora of illegal offers” currently available to players.

“When faced with illegal sites, the best response is to shut down the black market by creating a broad legal offering,” Woerth said.

As reported on EGRmagazine.com this week, the law in their present draft form may force operators to make their French customers re-register under the legislation, while this week the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) repeated earlier protests that it will protect monopolies, will not benefit consumers and are in breach of EU law and legal experts warned that it could strip lower profile sports of funding.

Despite the challenges, British Power 50 operator Sportingbet yesterday confirmed that it would apply for a French licence.