France Plans to Legalize Online Casinos Next Year

The French government is preparing to legalize online casinos next year as part of its 2025 budget. Currently, only online betting is allowed in the country, while online casinos are banned, making France, along with Cyprus, the only EU country without legal online casinos.

Legalizing casinos is not only intended to increase tax revenues — a tax rate of 55.6% on online casino turnover is proposed — but also to combat illegal gambling, which could reduce the public health risks associated with gambling for people with gambling problems.

However, not everyone supports the initiative. Land-based casinos are expressing concerns about the potential impact on their revenue and jobs. The head of the French Casino Union, Gregory Rabuel, said that the opening of online casinos could reduce the revenues of land-based casinos by 20-30%, which would lead to the closure of 30% of establishments.