The French Gambling Authority’s
Strategic Plan for
2024 - 2026
The first cycle of regulation under the aegis of the French Gambling
Authority (ANJ), which ended in 2023, witnessed a booming gambling
market that generated over €13bn in turnover – an increase of over
50% since liberalisation of the market in 2011. Over the years, gambling
has become a mainstream consumer product for people of all ages and
backgrounds. Today, over 50% of French people gamble, spending more
than €55bn in total each year. Gambling is a phenomenon that is present
in every European country, making it a major feature of our societies.
Gambling, however, differs from other products because of its inherent
risks. The French government, which had previously fluctuated between
prohibiting and tolerating it, has now implemented a restrictive regulatory
policy whose legal objective is to limit and regulate the supply and
consumption of gambling products. In 2019, French public authorities
decided to strengthen player protection measures – the ANJ was therefore
created to fulfil this goal, which guides its actions.
In this context, gambling operators have made significant progress
regarding player protection over the last three years. However, these
advances may not be enough, as problem gambling remains far too
prevalent on the gambling market today. In 2019, the Gambling Monitoring
Centre estimated that 1.4m gamblers were at risk, with almost 400,000
at pathological level1. In total, problem gambling and excessive gambling
generate respectively about 38% and 21% of the sector’s turnover2.
Though these figures need to be updated, they show that gambling is not
only an addiction – a term that confines gambling to a clinical diagnosis –
but also a more general social issue that particularly affects young people
and has repercussions on all aspects of gamblers’ lives (excessive debt,
family problems, difficulties at school, etc.).
Meanwhile, the gambling market continues to expand vigorously, spurred
by the growth of online gambling, renewed competitive tension and the
advent of innovative new offerings that sometimes push the boundaries
of traditional gambling – such as “video games with monetisable digital
objects” (JONUM), which are now regulated by the ANJ, eSports and
online casinos.
In this context, the ANJ has been working with all stakeholders to outline
new regulatory guidelines for the 2024-2026 period. The Authority’s
roadmap, based on these guidelines, focuses on protecting minors
and reducing excessive gambling and the social harm it causes, two
common threads that inspire all of its actions. The roadmap is built on
three fundamental pillars.
The first pillar, which reflects the public health implications of regulation,
calls for a less “intensive” model. It seeks to drastically reduce the
proportion and number of excessive gamblers in the gambling market.
This key objective will require major efforts from operators, and cannot
be achieved without a consistent and balanced regulatory policy aimed at
consolidating the French gambling market model.
At the same time, the ANJ will need to continue its efforts towards
preserving the sector’s transparency and integrity by, first and foremost,
fighting illegal gambling (second pillar) but also by strengthening the
economic dimension of regulation to provide solutions to today’s changing
market (third pillar).
Additionally, this strategic plan is based on three core principles:
-D
eveloping regulation driven by scientific knowledge about the gambling
market and gambling practices
-E
mbodying, at national and European level, an approach to regulation
based on dialogue and cooperation to drive change in the market
-P
ositioning the ANJ as a think tank for bold, effective and exemplary
public action
The next three years will be critical for the French gambling market, and
can either undermine or strengthen the French model. This strategic
plan, aiming to guide ANJ decisions, will be the basis for an operational
roadmap that will identify concrete projects to be implemented during this
timeframe. It must provide tangible solutions to the risks we face today
and reinforce the French regulation model as a satisfactory compromise
between openness and protection.
Its implementation will be assessed regularly and will likely lead to
propositions by the ANJ’s Board for legislative and regulatory changes
necessary to achieve the Authority’s goals.
It is now down to us – we must act firmly with all of the ecosystem’s players
to make sure that gambling remains a game.
1 - “Les problèmes liés aux jeux d’argent en France, en 2019”, Gambling Monitoring Centre note no. 12, 2020.
(in French only)
2 - New figures should be published in 2024 in the upcoming Survey on Representations, Opinions and Per-
ceptions regarding Psychoactive Drugs (EROPP), conducted by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and
Drug Addiction (OFDT).
Reducing the share of excessive gambling
and enhancing protections for minors
Key objectives
1. I ncrease regulation of gambling activities 3. Enhance law enforcement efforts
and their promotion
•E
xpand the policy on legal operator controls
•R
egulate the gambling offering (whether by introducing a control strategy targeting
monopolistic or in competition) so as to the key issues of player protection, which
support a growth model less likely to lead could lead to sanctions from the ANJ’s
to problem gambling, while adopting an Sanction Committee
approach based on gambler behaviour and •P
rovide the ANJ’s control department with
gambling practices the necessary means and technological
•L
imit exposure to gambling advertising, tools to broaden its impact
especially for the most vulnerable •R
einforce cooperation strategies with the
populations (including minors), and promote relevant entities regarding control, and
the development of ethical advertising and particularly with the Central Racing and
sponsoring Gambling Unit (SCCJ) in order to develop
•M
ake underage gambling bans more its ability to act on the physical distribution
effective and improve the identification of network and on casinos
and support for excessive gamblers, across
all distribution channels (and particularly at
the point of purchase)
4. H
elp gamblers control their gambling
practices
2. R
efocus our approach to helping
operators achieve compliance •C
ontinue to implement awareness-raising
and prevention campaigns about the risks of
•U se a risk-based approach to our support for gambling aimed at the general public and at
operators and ensure the implementation of more vulnerable populations, in addition to
tangible goals, particularly regarding best the ones implemented by public authorities
practices in the market •D
evelop a wider array of player protection
•G uarantee legal certainty for operators by services
implementing a clear, stable and progressive
regulation policy
• Adjust our approach to helping operators
achieve compliance to allow for more regular
and operational dialogue with operators
Guaranteeing the legality, integrity and transparency
of the gambling market
Key objectives
1. Implement a global strategy to fight illegal 3. Guarantee consumer protection
gambling offerings
• Increase transparency for gambling services
• Act on the entire chain of operators who and advertising
provide gambling services (payment service •E ncourage out-of-court settlements of
providers, technology providers, platforms, disputes between players and operators
etc.) and find new ways to combat illegal through mediation
gambling offerings •R emain extremely vigilant – with the help
•F oster cooperation with national judicial of the Directorate General for Competition
authorities and other European authorities Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control
•L aunch information and prevention (DGCCRF) and in the context of the growth
campaigns to emphasise the unlawfulness of online gambling – as regards practices
and the dangers of illegal gambling offerings that might be considered unfair or that may
not comply with consumer law requirements,
with enforcement measures whenever
necessary
2. Continue combating fraud and money
laundering
• Increase efforts to combat fraud and money
laundering in gambling market sectors that
are under the ANJ’s jurisdiction (compliance
and control)
•D evelop a specific policy for operators who
provide JONUMs in terms of risk supervision
and help with achieving compliance
•P lay a leading role in the prevention and
fight against the risk of sports competition
manipulation
Safeguarding the equilibrium
of the French gambling market
and providing solutions to changes in the sector
Key objectives
Expand the regulator’s analysis and 3.
1.
Make the concept of the balanced
expertise capabilities to better understand development of the gambling sector more
changes in the sector effective
•E
nhance our knowledge about operators’ •G ather in-depth knowledge about the
economic situations and about market different areas of the gambling sector and
development and dynamics about other types of games, in particular
•P
roduce regular reports and thematic web3 and video games
analyses on the gambling sector, as well as •E stablish an ANJ action plan to ensure the
on key market figures balanced operation of the various types of
•P
osition the ANJ as a centre of expertise and gambling games
multidisciplinary think tank on gambling • Analyse and plan for the developments in
market competition, in collaboration with
the Competition Authority, to guarantee the
2. S
upport innovation in the gambling proper functioning of the market
sector, particularly as regards JONUM
experiments
• Implement an experimental regulatory
framework covering JONUMs and produce
an in-depth review of this experiment,
along with suggestions for changes to the
framework if relevant
•D evelop monitoring capabilities to keep
track of new trends, practices and emerging
technologies in the gambling sector and
support innovation so as to reconcile issues
surrounding the appeal of the market with
player protection
• Coordinate forward-looking discussions about
the economic and societal aspects of the
gambling sector and the potential changes
to the market’s landscape and practices
Three core principles
essential to the success
of the strategic plan
1 2
Developing regulation Ensuring full stakeholder engagement
driven by scientific knowledge at national and European level
of the market and data analysis
•F
oster regular and open dialogue with players
•F acilitate regular and independent studies in the gambling ecosystem to find common
to build knowledge about the market and to regulatory solutions for the sector
objectively look at the reality of excessive •S
trengthen cooperation with institutional
gambling and its social repercussions partners to enhance the effectiveness and
•Increase collaboration with research institutions consistency of sector regulation
in France and abroad •E
nhance cooperation with other European
•F ind better ways for the ANJ to use the data regulators around best regulatory practices
provided by operators to conduct research
and gather knowledge of practices
3
Positioning the ANJ as an effective and
exemplary authority
•M
ake our regulation model more agile by
adapting regulatory actions to the challenges
they address and by streamlining our
processes
•D
evelop a culture driven by innovation and
results characterised by the systematic
assessment of our actions
•P
romote the ANJ by focusing on talent
development and fostering a supportive
work environment
Autorité nationale des jeux
11 boulevard Gallieni
92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
