The Local France

The Local aims to provide you with all the important news and information about France. Whether you are a foreign resident, a regular traveler, have family living in France, or are considering relocating there, our mission is to meet your needs.

International

English

Online/Digital

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#252018

France

#35143

News and Media

#1126

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

French word of the Day: Bleuet

1 week 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 week 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 week 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 week 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

2 weeks 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.
OPINION: French doctors cannot avoid regulation for ever

2 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | John Lichfield

There are, by my calculation, 17 doctors within 15 kilometres of my village in the hills of Calvados. When I need to see a doctor, I can usually get an appointment within 24 hours. If I lived 50 kilometres to the south, in the great, green, sprawling, empty département of the Orne, life would be very different. The Orne has only 264 general practitioners – 66 fewer than it needs to reach the national average of 0.83 doctors for every 1,000 people.
South-west France town hit with spate of thefts of letter U

2 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

The town of Pau, close to the border with Spain, has been experiencing a series of bizarre thefts for more than three years, and now the thief has struck again. Valérie Lenoble, owner of the lingerie store Bulle (bubble), arrived one morning to find that the U in the shop name had disappeared overnight. She told TFI Info that the crime would not have been difficult or time-consuming, saying: "He probably just used a crowbar, dislodged the letter and caught it.
French doctors launch strike action over regulation plans

2 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | Emma Pearson

Strikes and demonstrations are planned across France this week by doctors - with the actions set to be supported by both GPs and hospital doctors. "We're ready to take on the fight, and the only way to do that is to block the system," Anna Boctor, president of the Jeunes Médecins union, told France Info.
Inside France: Sensitive politicians, potholes and a papal controversy

2 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. Touché un nerf?
France tops table for ordering most non-EU citizens to leave country

3 weeks ago | thelocal.fr | Claudia Delpero |Europe Street

In total, 453,920 people were ordered to leave an EU country in 2024, a 4 per cent increase compared to the 435,685 in 2023, an analysis of Eurostat data for The Local shows. The figure was 124,935 in the last three months of the year, an increase by 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.