EU vs. France Restrictions

The European High Court has ruled that France must open to real money gambling online. It has specifically demanded the reversal of a verdict under preparation, which will specify that only licensed operators such as Francaise des Jeux (FdS), and home turf bookie Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) can provide online gambling. It will also decree that French banks be required to block monetary transactions involving personal accounts and illegal gaming rooms and internet service providers (ISP) must place notices forewarning players that they are at risk should they deal with sites that are not tolerable.

The European Union has given France a deadline of August 24th ‘to modify its decree', which is standing in direct violation of Article 49 of the European Treaty guaranteeing ‘free movement of goods and services' within the EU. Should the current law go through as it is written the consequences may be fiscally dire upon French authorities.

French legal expert Cedric Manara gave his thoughts on the matter, ‘I think France will have to open sports betting to all EU companies, but only in the case there was already a market with only one actor, such as horse race betting.'

Even within France some companies have had to challenge the laws based on the Article 49 regulation. One example of this is Cour de Cassation when they overturned the barring of PMU competitor Zeturf as it did not comply. Other conflicts between the French authorities and foreign operators include the arrest of Bwin Interactive executives after the company made a formal complaint about the French monopoly in the market.

The European Union High Court's decision did allow for restriction of counterfeit sites, or those who are not demonstrating adequate security. France has contended that they can better scrutinize and control if the companies continue to be sovereign.