French Gambling Deadline Coming Quickly
September 18, 2007
The pressure is building from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and France is feeling it. France is currently only permitting two in country companies to conduct online gambling activity for French citizens. This position has put France in the for front of the ECJ for disagreement as to conducting fair equable trade within the EU.
There is a looming deadline rapidly approaching, of October 29th for France to revise the current laws. As it stands, the ECJ has ruled that France is in violation of article 49 of the European Treaty, which clearly states that free trade needs to be effective throughout the European Union, covering both trand and services. As a result, the French Government has opened discussions on the topic, targeting opening of the online gaming industry to outside companies.
“We’re listening, and the fact that there is a dialog is encouraging,” said Petter Nylander, Chief Executive of Unibet discussed the matter with another reporter. “But customer demand and technology will always circumvent any of those restrictions. This is a step in the right direction but it’s not good enough.” Unibet was involved with an issue during the Tour De France cycling competition, as they sponsored a quality team, who was denied the ability to compete due to these laws.
It will be time, albeit a short time from now, before the changes are decided on. The impact of opening the French marketplace will be felt throughout the gambling and poker industries, should it happen.
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