As the French government has set to legalize and regulate online gambling in the country, they have run into a few stumbling blocks. Provisions in their bill that would restrict online gambling to online casinos located in France have met resistance from the European Union. Other provisions were in violation of various European laws. France responded by doing what France does best: surrendering. France capitulated to the demands of the EU and removed the contested provisions.

The provision requiring online casinos to have fiscal correspondence within France was scrapped, much to the delight of overseas casinos and much to the chagrin of French government officials that love collecting taxes. There are still some provisions that are being challenged, such as limits on fund transfers and the question on whether or not sports betting will be legal.

Despite any conflicts with the EU, experts believe that a vote on online gambling will occur early next year and licenses for online casinos could be given out as early as May of 2010. It would be a sad day if France, which isn’t all that big on freedom, legalizes online gambling before the United States. If that happens, should we give them the Statue of Liberty back? After all, France isn’t in favor of freedom of speech and has laws about what you can name things. Yet they may allow their people the freedom to spend their money online however they want before America does. It’s a sad, sad day.

Tags: European Union, France, French gambling licenses, French law, gambling in France, online gambling

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