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OPINION: Tractor protests expose the hypocrisy of French farming policies

1 week ago | thelocal.fr | John Lichfield

We seem to be going through a period of “peak France”. Farmers with €200,000 tractors besieged the National Assembly this week; taxis blocked roads all over France. A pro-farmer law, scrapping some environmental rules, was rejected by the Assembly on Monday. So the farmers were furious? No, they were delighted and took their tractors home. Taxi unions won concessions from the government at the weekend. So the taxi-drivers were delighted? No, they were furious. The blockades continue.
OPINION: Retailleau believes he is the new hope for the French centre-right, he might be its doom

2 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | John Lichfield

The French centre-right changes leaders as frequently as it changes names. According to Les Républicains, or whatever the movement is fleetingly called, each new beginning promises the resurrection of “Gaullism” as France’s dominant political force. The latest Messiah of the centre-right is Bruno Retailleau, 64, who started in politics as an anti-Gaullist and an extreme anti-European nationalist.
Inside France: Macron's swansong, Sarkozy's tag and a booze ban for Smurfs

3 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Job advert: The Local France is looking for a freelance journalist

3 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | Ben McPartland

Our job at The Local is to explain French news and the complexities of life in France to readers. Our members and readers are mostly foreign nationals living in the country, second home owners or people living all around the world who happen to have a particular interest in France. They may be regular visitors or plan on moving to the country one day.
OPINION: Macron's TV 'comeback' was more like his obituary

3 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | John Lichfield

France's most popular TV channel postponed one of its most popular programmes on Tuesday night to give three hours of air-time to an unpopular President. Viewers were supposed to watch Koh-Lanta, in which competitors seek to become the last survivor on a desert island. Instead they watched Emmanuel Macron struggle to escape the domestic, political isolation forced on him by a disastrous snap election 11 months ago. That election was a failed gamble; so was Tuesday’s marathon TF1 interview.
French word of the Day: Bleuet

1 month ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

Why do I need to know bleuet? Because it's a symbolic flower that is very important on two dates of the year - May 8th and November 11th. What does it mean? Un bleuet is the small blue flower known in English as a cornflower. It's a common and rather pretty wildflower often seen on grass verges and in gardens.
OPINION: Far-left Mélenchon could yet prove decisive (and disastrous) for France

1 month ago | thelocal.fr | John Lichfield

Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not like journalists, especially British or American journalists. Interviews with him have a habit of exploding into insults after a few minutes. All credit then to Leila Abboud, the Paris bureau chief of the FT, who lasted more than three hours with the bad-tempered old fox in an interview published last weekend. She even managed to make the hard-left veteran appear likeable.
French tax authorities to start levying fines to property owners over new declaration

1 month ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

Back in 2023, French tax authorities introduced a new requirement for anyone who owns property in France - including foreign second-home owners. This is the Déclaration des biens immobiliers, also known as the déclaration d'occupation. Completing the one-off declaration has been compulsory since 2023, but while the new system was bedding in, fines have not been issued.
OPINION: France's plan to 'toughen up' citizenship rules is more smoke and mirrors

1 month ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a French politician in possession of presidential ambition must be in want of something to Get Tough on. And if you come from the right of the political spectrum then Getting Tough on some aspect of the immigration system is a sure-fire winner. Does it matter if you end up announcing that you're going to Get Tough by introducing rules that already exist? It seems not, judging by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau's announcement on Monday.
VAT changes for self-employed in France postponed until 2026

1 month ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

France's 2025 Budget - finally passed in February after much political drama - contained a provision that would have a big impact on France's self-employed people registered under the micro-entrepreneur scheme. The budget proposed a big drop in the VAT threshold, bringing many freelancers, contractors and sole traders into the VAT threshold for the first time.