The French Autorité Nationale des Jeux (English: "National Gaming Authority"), usually referred to as ANJ, is an independent administrative authority, specifically designed to regulate
online gambling
Online gambling (also known as iGaming or iGambling) is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for th ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It was created by Article 34 of Law No 2010-476 of the 12 May 2010 (
French Gambling Act) introduced to enhance the competition and sector regulation of gambling and online gaming.
Members
The members of this authority are currently:
*
Jean-François Vilotte, Chairman (appointed by the
President of the Republic
The President of the Republic is a title used for heads of state and/or heads of government in countries having republican form of government.
Designation
In most cases the president of a republic is elected, either:
* by direct universal s ...
)
*
Jean-Michel Brun (appointed by the President of the Republic)
*
Alain Moulinier (appointed by the President of the Republic)
*
Jean-Louis Valentin (replaced the resigned
Guy Drut
Guy Drut (born 6 December 1950) is an Olympic champion and politician who won gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal in the 110 m hurdles. In 1996, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Biography Sports career ...
) (appointed by the
President of the National Assembly)
*
Dominique Laurent (appointed by the President of the National Assembly)
*
Jean-Luc Pain
Jean-Luc may refer to:
Politics
* Jean-Luc Bennahmias (born 1954), a French politician and Member of the European Parliament
* Jean-Luc Bourgeaux (born 1963), a French politician
* Jean-Luc Dehaene (1940–2014), a Flemish politician
* Jean-Luc F ...
(appointed by the
President of the Senate
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...
)
*
Laurent Sorbier
Laurent may refer to:
*Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname
**Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent
**Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician
**Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...
(appointed by the President of the Senate)
The term office of all members is 6 years and can't be extended or renewed.
Structure
In Article 35 of the French Gambling Act, it prescribes that ANJ should consist of:
#A board of 7 members, chaired by a president
#A disciplinary Committee of six representatives
#Special Commissions (the Board may establish special commissions consisting of qualified persons in certain cases)
Mission
The mission of ANJ is to:
*issue approvals and ensure compliance by operators
*protect the vulnerable and fight against addiction
*ensure the safety and fairness of gambling operations
*fight against illegal sites
*fight against fraud and money laundering
Currently only online operators offering sportsbooks betting, horse racing betting and poker games can get ANJ's license. At ANJ's site there's a list of approved operators and their websites. Also, a special section of the site is reserved for published decisions of the board (approvals and rejections).
In June 2010, ANJ contacted unlicensed gambling operators that accepted French players and requested that they stop doing so. That was the first step towards banning those sites that didn't get ANJ's approval and operated without licenses. Then organisation focused on blocking access to these sites rather than attempting to prosecute operators based overseas. It turned to French ISPs asking them to block the unlicensed sites in August, 2010. Despite the initial reluctance of ISPs to obey ANJ, the
Tribunal de grande instance de Paris
The Tribunal de Paris (, ), located at the Judicial Campus of Paris in Batignolles, is the largest court in France by caseload. It replaced the capital's former () and () under an amalgamation of jurisdictions that came into effect on 1 Januar ...
held that they must act towards preventing French gamblers from accessing such websites. The fine for the failure to block the domain was estimated at €10,000 per day. Although ANJ can fine the unlicensed operators (up to €100,000), it was more effective to act through ISPs.
Proposed dissolution in 2020 and restructuring
ANJ's predecessor ARJEL was the subject of Parliamentary debate as to whether or not to it should be maintained. An amendment introduced by the deputy
Jean-Luc Warsmann
Jean-Luc Warsmann (; born 22 October 1965) is a French politician who has represented the 3rd constituency of the Ardennes department in the National Assembly since 1995. A member of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), he also served ...
(LR) to the draft law on the general status of independent administrative authorities and public authorities aimed to dissolve ARJEL in February 2020. ARJEL was supposed to be merged with another entity or institution
FDJ and the PMU.
[Arjel menacée de disparition]
lesechos.fr
In the end the ARJEL was just restructured and became ANJ.
References
External links
Official website
Gambling regulators
Gambling in France
Government agencies of France
Regulation in France
2020 establishments in France
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