Pascal Chevremont pledges tough line as new head of French gambling regulator
Chevremont will take the reins from Isabelle Falque-Pierrotinthe, who has led the ANJ since its creation.
France.- The next president of the French gambling regulator Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has signalled that online operators can expect a tough compliance environment once he takes office. Pascal Chevremont will take on leadership of the for six years. He succeeds Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, who has led the regulator since its creation in 2020.
Chèvremont is currently at the General Economic and Financial Control (CGefi), the state economic and financial oversight body. He previously served as director general of the brewing industry association Brasseurs de France and held senior civil service roles, including at the Treasury and Ministry of the Economy.
Speaking to a National Assembly committee at his confirmation hearing, he said he intended to strengthen state oversight of betting and gaming and intensifying efforts against illegal gambling operators in France.
“A significant proportion of [gambling] is practised illegally. The primary directive of the framework is to protect players, and yet studies show a significant number of players are minors or have become addicted to gambling.”
Licensed operators have long argued that illegal platforms undermine consumer protection. Industry association AFJEL has warned that the number of French users accessing unlicensed betting sites jumped 35 per cent between 2020 and 2025, reaching 5.4 million.
France sits among Europe’s five largest betting markets, alongside Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain. Chevremont reminded lawmakers that the sector generates around €14bn (£12.1bn) in annual gross gaming revenue. He also highlighted that much growth has come from online activity, even though France’s digitalisation rate — at 20 per cent — is “half the European average” and online casino gaming is unregulated.
“This is a sector that is growing, and yet the public health objective of preventing excessive gambling leads us to consider this growth within limits that have not been defined,” he said.
Chevremont steps into the role at a time when new operators, including UK‑based giant bet365, are entering the French market despite heavy constraint. A tax increase introduced last year pushed online sports betting taxes rose from 54.9 to 59.3 per cent. A government plan to legalise and regulate online casino gambling was shelved amid opposition from land-based casino operators.
The ANJ was created by an ordinance on October 2, 2019, and formally launched operations in June 2020. It has a board of seven members, chaired by a president
Last month, the ANJ issued a new set of data protection guidelines clarifying how General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles apply to the French gambling sector. The document, prepared in collaboration with the National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties (CNIL), is aimed at all licensed operators in France, from online betting and poker platforms to casinos, gaming halls and the legacy monopoly operators FDJ and PMU.
