French Budget Minister Eric Woerth told Le Parisien that the government could push ahead with deregulating betting in 2009/2010.
His comments follow submission of the Durieux Report to the French Prime Minister last week. The report had been commissioned by the French government to investigate ways of liberalizing the gambling market after the European Commission criticized French laws protecting state-run betting monopolies from private competiton.
Woerth said he expects plans for a ‘controlled opening’ of the gambling market to be finalized later this year and to launch a test phase in 2009.
Elsewhere, the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg rejected a complaint from the State of Lower Saxony’s looking to overturn an earlier ruling of the Administrative Court in Hanover, which in August 2007 authorized gaming operator Spielbanken Niedersachsen to launch an online casino in the north-western German state.
Spielbanken Niedersachsen later initiated legal action against the State of Lower Saxony after local authorities refused to issue the casino operator an online gambling license.
‘The ruling is now final and we will immediately begin preparations for the launch,’ said Rainer Chrubassik, MD of Spielbankeen Niedersachsen.
Calculators
