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WAAG: France: The Government

Licensing the online casino gambling industry has been a lengthy process for the French government and one that has forced the country to abandon protectionist policies of the past and instead embrace a more liberal approach to land and internet gambling that welcomes foreign competition and creates an open market for the emerging medium. France is one of the nearly dozen countries that has protectionist policies in place that are designed to keep foreign competition out of the market and instead force all gambling activity through a state-controlled gambling monopoly. As the European Commission negotiated with the French government over the past year French officials decided to abandon the more protectionist policies and instead in February 2009 France released draft regulations for a more open online casino gambling industry.

The draft regulations have been reviewed over the past nearly year and the full implementation of a licensed and regulated online casino gambling industry is set to take effect on the first of the new year, 2010. The French government has embraced the notion that the internet gambling industry is best controlled through regulation rather than failed attempts to block as many as 25,000 gambling related sites. Eric Woerth, the French Budget Minister firmly supports the new online casino regulations and feels like the licensing process will facilitate the development of a safe and inclusive gambling industry.

Although the French regulations still have very tight controls in place in regards to licensing credible internet gambling companies, the main criteria for licensing is whether a site is willing to “’respect public and social order,” according to Woerth. Again, new regulations are set to launch in January 2010 and licensing of online casinos will begin shortly thereafter.