The French Constitutional Council has ruled on the 2026 budget, confirming the permanent status of Parisian gaming clubs after a nine-year wait.
Indeed, the Council previously rejected two challenges against an article that sought to convert an experimental legal framework for gaming clubs into a lasting regulatory regime.
Several Members of Parliament had contested the budgetary classification of the provision, arguing that making gaming clubs permanent would have no impact on public finances for the 2026 fiscal year, as the pilot scheme was already due to run until 2028.
The Council dismissed this argument, holding that even an indirect fiscal link between the clubs’ activities and state revenue was sufficient to justify the measure’s inclusion within the scope of finance laws. A second procedural objection criticised the absence of the evaluation report required under the 2017 legislation.
While politically significant, this argument was deemed constitutionally weaker and was likewise rejected. As part of the industry response, Philippe Bon, General Delegate of Casinos de France, welcomed the ruling: “It took some time, but we welcome it; it establishes a legal gambling offering in Paris and guarantees job security.”
With further implementation details pending, the operational framework of the new system will only be fully defined once the implementing decrees are published, which are expected shortly. These decrees will set out the operating conditions, the obligations of operators and the mechanisms for oversight.
In 2017, the gambling law established Parisian gaming clubs as a pilot scheme. The clubs are permitted to offer poker or other card games, while roulette and slot machines remain prohibited. The pilot programme underwent multiple extensions amid ongoing debates over the model’s legitimacy. This included repeated attempts to expand the offerings, which were consistently rejected. For nearly nine years, the sector operated under a temporary legal framework, renewed intermittently. The Constitutional Council’s ruling provides legal certainty for Parisian gaming clubs, paving the way for a stable regulatory environment.
The French regulator ANJ recently launched a three-year pilot regulatory framework for games involving monetisable digital objects, known as JONUM
