The French Parliament had finally approved a Bill to end a state monopoly on online gambling - a saga which saw the French horse racing monopoly take a Malta-based gaming company to court.

France has been under pressure from the European Union and from private gaming firms to open up to competition a market worth billions of euros.

The bill, which was passed today by a parliamentary majority of 299 votes to 223, is expected to be in effect by the World Cup in South Africa starting in June.

"This text will allow us to progressively dry up the black market in online gambling by creating a legal offer which obeys the rules," Budget Minister Francois Baroin said.

The bill forces operators to seek a permit from a regulator whose role is to check that games meet regulations, hunt down misdemeanours and combat addiction.

It also forbids minors from taking part in luck-based games and strengthens measures against illegal websites.

Fiscal rules on online games are also expected to be brought into line with those on non-virtual gambling, such as casinos and horse racing.

The state will take tax of 7.5 percent on players' bets on sports games and horse racing and 2 percent for poker bets. Part of the takings will go towards anti-addiction campaigns.

French people placed 36.7 billion euros' ($49.21 billion) worth of bets in 2008 via France's two state-owned concerns, the PMU and the Francaise des Jeux, according to a report presented to parliament.

The French high court - le Cour de Cassation - had in 2007 ruled that the French horse racing monopoly Parimutuel Urbain (PMU) could not prevent Malta-based ZeTurf from offering wagers over the internet on French horse races.

The ruling - following court action which dragged on for years - was greeted with satisfaction by the European Commission, the Maltese online gaming industry and by Zeturf as it was interpreted as signalling the end of monopolies in this sector in the EU.