French government open up betting market
In what could be the first step towards a liberalisation of its gambling policy, French officials were in Brussels this week to discuss opening France online betting market. The French government has been threatened with legal action by the European Court of Justice in recent months and has conceded that it must open its gambling market, although any liberalisation would be limited to online sports betting. The French government said any deregulation would not be done without conditions and would be carried out in a controlled manner. The French authorities would want to limit payouts from private operators to 70% of the take, rather than the industry average of 90%, to bring them into line with what FdJ hands back to its players. 
French casinos are also getting impatient and have been lobbying government figures for permission to open up their own online gambling sites to target French players. The countrys two largest operators, Barrière and Partouche, are getting increasingly nervous of the competition from non-French online gaming operators targeting the country. Negotiations between the casino groups and the government are expected to last until the end of October.