A French appeal court’s decision to assess whether France’s betting laws are compatible with EU law is being seen by many as the first step on the road towards a possible liberalization of gaming in France later this year.

A recent conference held by the French parliament on the future of its online gaming regime highlighted some of the obstacles the draft bill faces if a reform is to be adopted by the beginning of the football World Cup in June.

Unibet CEO Petter Nylander is set to travel to France on Wednesday, following his decision to consent to extradition, but the debate over the position of foreign gambling operators in France has intensified radically in the past few days and Nylander will find himself in the middle of a media storm where the state monopolies are making the running.

GamblingCompliance spoke exclusively to French casino operator Patrick Partouche about the prospects for a liberalization of France’s online gambling market during the course of 2008, and the plans of the Partouche Group to bring existing land-based customers to their emerging online business.

La Française des Jeux president Christophe Blanchard-Dignac was last week called in for questioning by a magistrate investigating claims that scratchcard games operated by FDJ were fixed. The news has attracted further negative publicity for FDJ at a time when France’s gambling market is at a crossroads.

With France’s politicians now making good on their promises to allow a controlled opening of the country’s betting and gaming market, it came as little surprise that the French appeals court has finally waived all charges against Patrick Partouche and his associates for launching their own “offshore” gaming sites in recent years.

France has decided to amend its legislation in order to allow European online gambling operators to offer their services in a regulated manner. This is a direct consequence of the infringement proceedings brought by the European Commission in June last year, of the ECJ rulings in Gambelli and Placanica, as well as of the landmark French Supreme Court decision in Zeturf.

Attention has been focussed this week on the continued detention of Unibet CEO Petter Nylander on charges relating to the protection of the French betting monopoly markets. But Unibet’s best hope of persuading the French courts to halt action against them is likely to reside in the favourable decision secured by Maltese operator Zeturf in France’s highest court earlier this year.

Petter Nylander, the CEO of London-based online gaming company Unibet, was detained yesterday by Dutch authorities after checking on to a flight to return to his home in the UK. According to Unibet, the arrest took place following the issuance of a warrant by French authorities.

A court of appeal in Belgium has struck a blow against sporting organisations’ attempts to charge gambling companies a fee for the right to use their names and events for taking bets.