Barthélémy Philippe. Today, we are facing a catastrophic situation: the explosion of the illegal online gaming market, mainly casinos. In a few years, we went from one million players to more than four million who frequent these illegal sites. Most of the time, without even knowing it, they are in danger. These sites, often based in tax havens, do not provide any protection measures, whether in relation to the risks of addiction or the age of the players, who are not all adults. By playing on these sites, they expose themselves to data theft, scams, etc.
Illegal operators trample on the authority of public authorities since they respect no laws, pay no taxes and potentially feed international criminal networks. For these reasons, there is an urgent need for action. The status quo has become impossible and indefensible.
Operators of physical casinos estimate that legalization would lead to the closure of one establishment in three, and the loss of 15,000 jobs. What do you answer them?
I don’t know where these figures come from, they don’t seem solid to me. Quite simply because the online casino market already exists in illegal form and is mature in terms of size. So if there was going to be an impact on physical casinos, it would have already happened. And that doesn’t seem to be the case. The other point is that all other European countries [à l’exception de Chypre, NDLR] have already legalized the online casino and that the regulated digital offer coexists perfectly with the “terrestrial” market. The clientele is not the same, as numerous studies show.
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In the event of legalization, how can we bring back the four million people playing casinos on illegal sites?
We must create, within the future regulated framework, a complete and qualitative offer which will allow you to play on approved sites with complete confidence. This worked very well in 2010 with the legalization of sports betting and online poker in France, which made it possible to dry up the illegal offer. The same phenomenon has been observed in European countries which have legalized online casinos with a quality offer. Players naturally go to trusted legal sites rather than sites they are unfamiliar with.
Illegal operators trample on the authority of public authorities
The Addiction Federation opposes this legalization, warning against the addictive nature of online casinos. What do you think?
You have to be extremely vigilant when it comes to addiction. This is precisely why it is urgent to bring this existing market back into a regulated framework. Once again, there are four million French people playing without protection on illegal sites based abroad. This cannot satisfy the Addiction Federation. I would like to remind you that legal gaming operators in France are subject to a very strict regulatory framework in terms of player protection, in particular by requesting proof of identity, and therefore of age, proof of address, an Iban, or even with the establishment of gaming limits. They are also subject to obligations to detect and support potentially risky profiles, as many guarantees do not exist on illegal sites.
During this period of examination of the finance bill, the legalization envisaged by Bercy has a budgetary vocation. What revenue could taxing online casinos bring in?
Players’ spending on illegal sites represents nearly two billion euros per year. In the government’s amendment, the tax level was 55.6%, to which VAT must be added. So the impact of legalization could bring in more than a billion euros in annual revenue for the State. I add to this that the absence of regulation has an absolutely colossal hidden health and social cost for Social Security. Here again, legalization would limit expenses thanks to the French regulatory framework for player protection. This is why it is urgent to act.
