FDJ CEO: French online casino legalisation won’t solve black market problems
Stéphane Pallez claims the situation is more complicated than a “yes or no” question as she highlights extensive land-based casino footprint and need for further research
La Française des Jeux (FDJ) CEO Stéphane Pallez has said the legalisation of online casinos in France would not necessarily bring about more tax revenue and a reduction in the size of the black market.
Speaking to Les Echos in a wide-ranging interview, the exec argued that regulating the vertical was not a “simple yes or no” and a deeper understanding of the pros and cons was needed.
The French government made trade media headlines in October after an amendment to the 2025 budget included online casino legalisation with a 55.6% tax rate.
However, pressure from land-based casinos saw ministers backtrack and now a consultation process now underway to establish the best path forwards.
Land-based casinos and more than 100 French mayors claimed that more than 15,000 jobs could be lost if igaming was regulated.
Pallez said: “FDJ is not for or against online casinos because the answer cannot be a simple ‘yes or no’.
“Considering that legalisation on the French market would be necessary because online casinos exist in many European countries does not make sense.
“Before any possible authorisation, an impact study must be conducted. This was the objective of the consultation launched by the previous government, which was precisely supposed to help us evaluate what the potential positive and negative impacts of opening an online casino would be.”
Since the consultation was launched, Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government collapsed, along with his proposed tax hikes for the whole sector.
In turn, President Emmanuel Macron appointed veteran centrist François Bayrou as his fourth prime minister of 2024.
When pushed on whether online casino coming to legal side would crack the black market, Pallez said that had not proven to be the case in other European countries.
France, along with Cyprus, is the only European Union member state to not have a legalised online casino sector. Sports betting, horseracing betting, poker and lottery are all legal in France.
Pallez added: “The idea that legalising online casinos could suddenly solve the problem of the illegal market in France is not proven by examples from other countries.
“The argument that it would bring a lot of additional revenue to public finances is inaccurate and, moreover, is not enough to justify a possible legalisation.”
She added: “We must not forget that we are, for example, the European country with the most physical casinos – more than 200 in total. Not everything is comparable from one country to another.
“Finally, we know that online casinos involve more risks in terms of addiction. Our position on online casinos is pragmatic; we are open to debate but remain cautious.”