French Government Pitches Online Casino Gaming to Fight Budget Deficit

French Government Pitches Online Casino Gaming to Fight Budget Deficit

To lower the nation's fiscal deficit, the French government, led by Prime Minister Michel Bernier, has suggested legalizing online casino gaming.

Less than two months after taking office, the leader of the Republicans instructed his party members and other pro-government members in Parliament to devise strategies for bringing France's budget deficit down from above 6% to less than 5%. As a potential workaround, the majority in the 348-member Senate and 577-member National Assembly proposed liberalizing iGaming during parliamentary talks on the country's 2025 budget draft.

Out of the 27 European states, France is still the only one that forbids playing the majority of table games and playing slots online. The only other EU country that restricts casino gambling to in-person gaming is Cyprus.

However, a law that established a legal framework for online poker, online sports betting, and online parimutuel horse racing wagering was passed by France in 2010. The National Gaming Authority oversees this type of internet gambling.

Benefits to the Budget

Pro-government supporters of the 2025 Finance Bill Draft's iGaming amendment claim that granting licenses for online gambling applications and websites would instantly boost revenue and aid in reducing the nation's deficit. The endeavor would also benefit from a high effective tax rate of 55.6% on gross earnings from internet casinos.

"This opening is the result of aligning the gaming framework with our main European neighbors,” a government statement on the iGaming proposal read.

The French government will directly profit from iGaming by receiving half of the proposed 55.6% tax if the budget amendment is approved by Parliament and signed by President Emmanuel Macron. Social Security programs would receive the leftover tax revenue.

With 235 parimutuel racetracks and off-track betting parlors, seven cardroom clubs in Paris, and 203 casinos and betting shops, France is already a significant gaming market. According to the government, there is a significant amount of illicit gambling in France, much of it done online.

The National Gaming Authority estimates that last year's revenue from illicit gaming operations ranged from €748 million to €1.5 billion (US$806 million to $1.62 billion). About half of that play, according to the central government's gaming agency, originated online through illicit activities by offshore companies. It is estimated that problem gamblers or those at risk of irresponsible gambling account for over 80% of illicit online play.

“While one in two consumers of illegal offers is unaware of their illicit nature, playing these games is not without risk: there is no approval of the games used, making cheating possible, winnings may not be paid, minors are not protected, bets are not supervised, and the theft of personal data is frequent,” the iGaming amendment detailed.

Opposition to Gaming Expansion

The iGaming pitch was immediately met with opposition by the French Addiction Federation.

"While the number of problem gamblers is already increasing, this reform of considerable magnitude cannot be adopted hastily, without consultation with addiction stakeholders and a debate on its health consequences. Legalizing online casinos, by a simple amendment, is not an acceptable process in view of the issues at stake,” said Catherine Delorme, president of the Addiction Federation.

According to Delorme, iGaming combines a number of risk factors for addiction, such as the player's capacity to place many bets in a private setting and swiftly.

The idea for online gambling was also met with resistance from France's physical casinos and gaming companies. According to the regulated sector, iGaming would cause a "20-30% drop" in gross gaming income and force many casinos to close, which would mean thousands of jobs would be lost.

“There will be catastrophic consequences,” concluded Gregory Rabuel, president of France’s largest casino union.