The powers of PMU and FDJ have been questioned by European jurisprudence. A number of new casinos have opened in the last decade and French groups Lucien Barriere and Partouche are expanding rapidly throughout Europe. With a task force now established to explore a controlled opening of the market, the Budget Minister suggests that an experimental phase will begin within the next two years. A conference held last week by the French government on the controlled opening of the gaming market exposed some of the concerns operators have about the proposed regulatory framework. Another conference on the EU comparative approach to online gaming regulation will be held November 6th in Paris.