New French online poker and betting legislation

14.05.2010, In a decision adopted today upon a request lodged by more than 60 members of the French Parliament, the French Constitutional Council today recognized that it is not competent to assess whether a new French law on online gaming and betting is compliant with EU law

Constitutional Council not competent to assess compliance with EU rules see link

The bill and various draft implementing decrees notified to the services of the European Commission have already triggered through detailed opinions heavy criticism and strong warnings against the new French legal framework due to issues of compliance with EU law (see link 1, 2 and 3).

The EGBA welcomes the decision made by the French authorities to move from a monopoly to a licensing approach but regrets that it continues to ignore the cross border and digital nature of the market. Under the new French law, well-established EU operators will be forced to comply with local requirements which duplicate controls and guarantees already in place damaging user experience and undermining certain security measures.

According to the EGBA, if promulgated by the French President Sarkozy, this law will introduce severe distortion of competition and disproportionate market restrictions without any added value in terms of sports integrity and consumer protection.

Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA “experience in other countries has shown that overly restrictive regulations do not provide efficient protection and tend to expose players to unregulated websites based outside EU jurisdiction”.

She adds “The French miss an opportunity to put an end to the legal uncertainty that has prevailed in the last 4 years due to the inconsistency of the existing legislation with EU law. After years of litigation and particularly intensive parliamentary debates we are today back to square one”.

If operators have announced their intention to apply for a license in France they will do so in a context of great legal and business uncertainty. Finally, it is the French player who will be losing out due to an unattractive and uncompetitive national offering.

- END -

About EGBA:

The EGBA is an association of the leading European online gaming and betting operators Bet-at-home.com, bwin, Digibet, Expekt, Interwetten, PartyGaming and Unibet. EGBA is a Brussels-based non-profit association. It promotes the right of private gaming and betting operators that are regulated and licensed in one Member State to a fair market access throughout the European Union. Online gaming and betting is a fast growing market, but will remain for the next decades a limited part of the overall European gaming market in which the traditional land based offer is expected to grow from € 70,5 Billion GGR in 2009 to € 76,5 Billion GGR in 2012, thus keeping the lion’s share with 86,2% of the market. Source: H2 Gambling Capital, January 2010.

For more information, please visit http://www.egba.eu or call Sigrid Ligne: +32 2256 7527

Über Glücksspielrecht Newsübersicht:

Casinos.ch ist die Gaming & Entertainment-Plattform der Schweiz und mit über 20 Informationsportalen und rund 100 Internetnamen (Domains) das grosse News- und Pressenetzwerk der Casino- und Glücksspielszene in Europa.

Aktuelle News, Interviews, Fotos und spannende Stories - direkt und live aus den Schweizer Casinos, der Spielbankenszene Deutschlands, über das monegassische Casino von Monte Carlo, weitere Casinos aus ganz Europa und der ganzen Welt finden Sie auf www.casinos.ch. Und last but not least natürlich auch aus der Sin City 'Las Vegas'.

Die Informationen sind unterteilt in die Bereiche Casino-Informationen, aktuelle News, Events, Jackpot und Tournament-Informationen, Fotogalerien, Live-Berichte und Interviews sowie ein täglich wechselndes Glückshoroskop.

Top-Brands: - www.casinos.ch CH-Casino-Plattform - www.swisspoker.ch Poker-News - www.casinopersonal.ch offene Stellen - www.nightlife.ch Ausgangs-Informationen

--- Ende Artikel / Pressemitteilung New French online poker and betting legislation ---


Weitere Informationen und Links:

Weitere Nachrichten der Gaming-Branche