The development is believed to be in response to growing fears from bar owners that the upcoming smoking ban will drive businesses.

The tax cut will only affect traditional games found in French bars and cafes, such as table football, pinball, snooker, pool and darts.

Copé said that the move was necessary “to regain some of the atmosphere that has been lost in bars and pubs”.

As a consequence, he has promised to cut a local tax called the vignette to E5 per game, per year.

It is as a result of high taxes that machines such as pinball and table football are disappearing from France’s bars and cafes. It is believed that relaunching these traditional activities in cafes will create a new source of clientele for these small businesses, reinforce important social centres within neighbourhoods and communities, and support a machine-game industry that employs 3,000 people in France.

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