Three years after the new gambling regulation came into force, the ANJ presents its strategic plan for 2024-2026. The reduction of excessive gambling and the resulting social damage, as well as the protection of minors, are at the center of the action. To achieve this ambitious objective, which is no longer an individual problem but a social one, the ANJ invites all interested economic and institutional actors to mobilize alongside it.
The first round of regulation under the aegis of the National Gambling Authority concluded in 2023 with the observation of a rapidly expanding gambling market, with over 13 billion euros in turnover, i.e. a growth of more than 50% since the opening of the market in 2011. Over time, gambling has become a consumer product, for all ages and backgrounds: more than one in two French people now gamble , which represents a figureat a cost of over 55 billion euros every year. Gambling is at the heart of our societies and this phenomenon is visible in all European countries.
However, gambling is not a product like the others and it is the risks inherent in this activity that have justified the implementation by the State of a restrictive regulatory policy which translates into a legal objective of limiting and regulating the gambling supply and consumption. In 2019, public authorities wanted to strengthen player protection and the ANJ was established with this goal in mind.
Although substantial progress has been made by gambling operators in this area over the last three years, problem gambling still occupies too large a place in the gaming market. In 2019, the Observatoire des Jeux estimated that 1,4 million gamblers were at risk, including nearly 400.000 with a pathological state. In total, problem gambling generates over 38% of the industry's turnover and 21% for excessive gamblers alone. These figures, which will soon be updated, illustrate the reality of a social problem, particularly for young people, with collateral damage in the player's immediate entourage: over-indebtedness, family problems, academic difficulties, etc.
It is in this context that the ANJ conducted its reflections with all stakeholders to define the new regulatory guidelines for the period 2024-2026. They place the regulator at the center of its action protection of minors , reduction of excessive gambling and the social damage it causes, like a common thread that inspires all his action.
The new ANJ roadmap is based on three key pillars:
- Il first of these pillarsi, which reflects the challenges of public health regulation, aims at a drastic reduction in the share and number of excessive gamblers within the gaming market. This central orientation for the ANJ will require significant efforts from operators. This objective cannot be achieved without a coherent and balanced regulatory policy, which seeks to consolidate the French model of the gambling market.
- At the same time, this means that the ANJ must continue its action to preserve the transparency and integrity of the sector, primarily the fight against illegal gambling (according to pillar) and strengthen the economic dimension of regulation in order to better understand market balances and provide solutions to the changes it is facing today (third pillar).
Finally, the strategic plan is based on three pillars which constitute the conditions for the success of its ambition: to make scientific knowledge of the market and gaming practices the compass of regulation; embody, at national and European level, regulation based on dialogue and cooperation to guide the repositioning of the market; and, finally, position the ANJ as a laboratory for courageous, effective and exemplary public action.
The period that is opening up is critical for the French gambling market: it can destabilize the French model as well as strengthen it. This strategic plan should make it possible to strengthen the French model of regulation as an acceptable compromise between openness and protection.
For Isabelle FALQUE-PIERROTIN, President of the ANJ: “After three years of ANJ activity, we now believe that gaming regulation needs to take a turn that involves the market gradually moving towards a less intensive model. This proactive goal of reducing the number of excessive gamblers and strengthening child protection will be monitored for 3 years, adapted based on monitoring indicators and prevalence studies. This objective can only be achieved if all actors join forces alongside the regulator to move the lines: gaming operators, public authorities, institutions, associations, etc.”.
