Stakeholders in the French gambling market have emphasised the need for regulated iCasino platforms and a review of current tax levels to curb the growth of the illegal market.
These comments were made at the first Gaming in France Briefing, which took place at the ICE conference in Barcelona last week, discussing everything connected to iCasino in France.
SBC News Contributor Jake Pollard was at the event, which covered several different areas including regulation, taxes and politics related to the country’s potential online casino legislation.
Also in attendance at the Gaming in France Briefing was Diane Mullenex, Partner at the law firm Pinsent Masons; Nicolas Béraud, CEO of Betclic and President of L’Association Française des Jeux en Ligne (AFJEL); Clément Martin Saint-Léon, MD Gaming for Groupe Barrière and Secretary General of Casinos de France (CdF); and Willem van Oort, Founder of Gaming in Europe.
The discussion arrives at an important time, as the debate surrounding iCasino in France begins to heat up and industry stakeholders await to see the next steps in 2025.
The Gaming in France Briefing began with Mullenex mentioning that while the “landscape of regulation in France is very challenging”, she believes “the market should and will open” in the future.
Mullenex added what could open up the regulatory discussion in France regarding iCasino is finding “a balance between needing more money and curbing an illegal market”.
Béraud noted that a regulated iCasino market can be beneficial for France as it can be an effective measure in reducing the size of the illegal market.
The Betclic CEO highlighted GGR and VAT taxes coming to more than 60% as having an impact on operators, and they are unable to balance things out with revenue from online casinos, resulting in the illegal market taking advantage.
Béraud said: “When the legal offer is attractive, in many countries we have seen that it is effective to reduce the illegal market.”
He later added that a regulated iCasino market would also help smaller operators develop in France.
“The problem is that most [online] operators cannot be profitable in France (with the current tax levels). If we would add casino games it could balance the revenue,” Béraud stated.
However, while saying that the CdF wasn’t standing against the regulation of iCasino, Martin Saint-Léon emphasised the impact such legalisation would have on the land-based casino industry in France.
The Secretary General of the CdF stated that the opening of the online casino market in France would cause “a 15%-25% loss of GGR” for land-based operations. He has also called for major reform and simplification of the tax system.
“We are not saying we don’t have to open the market. We are not against progress, but you need to consider the finances, taxation and employment of land-based casinos,” noted Martin Saint-Léon.
Discussions regarding iCasino in France are currently on hold since the working committees evaluating the legislation are suspended.
