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What are the new rules in France for reopening cafés and restaurants?

French bars and restaurants will reopen in France from June 2nd although things won't be the same as before. Here's a look at some of the new rules and measures as well as what dining out might look like in the future.

Published: 28 May 2020 18:11 CEST
What are the new rules in France for reopening cafés and restaurants?
AFP

The French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed on Thursday that bars, cafés and restaurants around France will be able to reopen from June 2nd.

The PM confirmed that the country’s bars and restaurants will only be able to fully reopen as normal in “green zones” – areas with low circulation of the coronavirus – as of June 2nd, the date that marks the beginning of the second phase.

But in the greater Paris region of Île-de-France, which is designated an “orange zone”, due to the higher circulation of the virus and higher number of hospital patients, things won't quite return to normal.

In Paris and the surrounding départements only the outside terraces of bars, cafés and restaurants will be allowed to open from June.

The French PM also announced a number of rules for restaurants:

  • All staff will have to wear masks
  • Customers must wear masks when moving around inside
  • Tables will be limited to a maximum of 10 people
  • All tables must be spaced at least one metre apart
  • Drinking at the bar will be forbidden as all clients inside the bars must be seated

 

Iconic Café de Flore in Paris might have to stay closed for the time being, while others reopen. Photo: AFP

Before the French PM's speech representatives from the restaurant sector thrashed out a 10-page manual mapping out guidelines for owners on how to safely reopen without putting their clients or staff at risk.

Here's a look at the main points of the industry guide:

Hand sanitiser and mask

Establishments to install hand sanitising gel at the entry so that customers can disinfect their hands before going in.

All customers to wear a mask when they enter a café, bar or restaurant or take it off once they have been seated.

Menus, tables, chairs and the like are to be disinfected between each customer.

Everyone will be asked to pay by card if they can.

One metre-distance

All tables will need to be spaced out by at least one metre and no table can seat more than 10 people.

Waiters will not be able to switch tables, so one table will be served by the same waiter throughout the meal.

Establishments will need to set up markers on the floor to space out of queues – bar queues, entry lines, toilet lines and so on – and more generally lower the limit of how many people they let in at once for these rules to be respected.

Buffets

There has been a lot of back-and-forth over whether buffets should be allowed to reopen or not, seeing as their self-serving nature increases the risk of spreading the virus.

In the document the restaurant representatives have sketched out strict rules for buffets, including introducing strict line systems and limiting how many people can serve themselves at once, plus installing “additional physical barriers” such as glasses or plastic walls protecting the areas.

Restaurants have been able to run a limited take-away and delivery service during the lockdown. Photo: AFP

Plastic barriers

Several bar and restaurant owners have already expressed desperation at the idea of having to install plexiglas or improvised plastic barriers between their employees and clients.

“It breaks the link, the contact (between people) that is so crucial to our business,” said Olivier Bertrand, who runs a group of 250 chain restaurants in France, to France Info.

But what exactly are these “physical walls” that are causing such a stir? 

The manual states that: “When it's needed, especially at entry points (receptions), extra physical barriers will be installed (glasses, temporary divisions).”

It does not specify the kind of barriers, probably to give some kind of leeway to the owners to find solutions suited to their establishment.

In Paris, one restaurant has prepared plastic cloches hanging from the ceiling that provide individual protection for each customer, as shown in the video below.

“I think everyone is adapting,” Matthieu Manzoni, who runs the restaurant H.A.N.D, told AFP.

“I have the weakness to think it could be amusing to some, and either way we don't have a choice, it's compulsory.”

 

People wearing a protective mask buy food to take away at a restaurant in Paris. Photo: AFP

Too expensive?

While owners are eager to get back in business, many worry for their future as the new rules will both imply extra costs to set up and reduce revenue due to the new limits on customers.

French chefs earlier warned that up to 40 percent of them might never reopen after the lockdown.

“And for those that do reopen, if they reopen at half capacity, how will they do it?
 
“I am pragmatic: my establishment serves 80 covers. If we go to 40, when I've organised my staff for double that, I'm going to have to let go of half the staff,” said Bordeaux-based chef Philippe Etchebest, who is also a judge on popular TV cookery competition Top Chef, told French media.
 

The government has promised financial help for the struggling sector, but many remain pessimistic about the future.

“The health rules change everything a little bit,” said Bertrand.

“Our whole business model is shaken up today.”

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

What’s the deal with passport stamping in France?

There are clear guidelines in place about who should have their passport stamped when they enter or leave France - but the letter of the law doesn't always seem to be applied on the ground. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 17 May 2024 14:24 CEST
What's the deal with passport stamping in France?

When you pass through a French border control post, officers will check your passport and – in some cases – stamp the date of your entry or exit of the country onto one of the blank pages in the booklet.

Although the system should be clear and simple, it becomes complicated when conflicting information is given on the ground.

Here’s what the rules say, and whether it’s really a problem if your passport is incorrectly stamped.

Who should be stamped?

The purpose of the date stamps for entry and exit is to calculate how long you have been in France, and therefore whether you have overstayed your allowed time – whether that is the time allowed by a short-stay Schengen visa or the visa-free 90-day allowance that certain non-EU nationals benefit from. 

Those people who are exempt from 90-day restrictions should therefore not have their passports stamped.

EU passport – people who have an EU passport should not have it stamped, because they have the right to unlimited stays due to EU freedom of movement.

Dual nationals – people who have passports of both EU and non-EU countries should not be stamped when they are travelling on their EU passport. However, because the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’, those travelling on their non-EU passports will be stamped, unless they have other proof of residency.

READ ALSO What are the rules for dual-nationals travelling in France?

French residents – the passports of non-EU citizens who have a residency permit in France (carte de séjour) should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their permit is valid.

Visa holders – people who have a long-stay visa or a short-stay visitor visa should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their visa is valid. 

Tourists/visitors – people making short visits to France who do not have a visa should be stamped, with the stamps keeping track of their 90-day allowance. Visitors from nationalities who do not benefit from the 90-day rule (eg Indians) are also stamped.

Travel practicalities

When crossing a French border, you should present your passport along with other documents – visa or carte de séjour – if relevant. Don’t wait for border guards to ask whether you are a resident.

It should be noted that the carte de séjour is not a travel document and cannot be used to cross borders, not even internal Schengen zone borders. The only valid travel documents for entering France are a passport or national ID card. Any other forms of ID – driving licence, residency card etc – cannot be used for travel purposes.

Border problems

While the rules on stamping are simple in theory, many readers of The Local have reported having their passports incorrectly stamped at the border, and this seems to be a particular problem for non-EU nationals who are resident in France.

Travellers are also often given incorrect information by border guards – for example being told that only holders of the post-Brexit Article 50 TUE carte de séjour are exempt from stamping, that all non-EU nationals must have their passports stamped or that only being married to a French national exempts you from stamping.

None of these are correct.

It’s also sometimes the case that people whose passports should be stamped – tourists, visitors and second-home owners who don’t have a visa – do not receive the stamp. For frequent visitors this can be a problem because it looks as though they have had a long stay in France, due to their exit not being recorded.

The system of stamping itself is also a bit haphazard with stamps scattered throughout the passport book in random order, so border guards sometimes make mistakes and miss an entry or exit stamp and therefore think that people have overstayed when they haven’t.

So how much of a problem actually is it if your passport is wrongly stamped?

It’s one thing to know the rules yourself, it’s quite another to have an argument with a border guard, in French, when a long queue is building behind you. Numerous Local readers have reported feeling that they had no choice but to accept a stamp when an implacable guard insisted upon it.

But is this really a problem?

One thing is clear – if you are a resident of France then you have the right to re-enter, and your proof of residency (visa or carte de séjour) takes precedence over any passport stamps. So it’s not a question of being barred from the country – it can, however, be inconvenient as it might lead to delays at the border while your passport record is queried.

Meanwhile people who did not receive correct exit stamps can be incorrectly told that they have over-stayed and even be liable for a fine. 

Will the new EES passport control system improve this?

Theoretically, the EU’s new Entry & Exit System – which does away with the manual stamping of passports – should get rid of these problems.

However, as we have seen, theory and what actually happens on the ground are two different things.

The EES system, due to come into effect later this year, brings in two main changes – it makes passport checks more secure by adding diometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans and it does away with manual stamping of passports and replaces it with scans which automatically calculate how long people have been in France.

You can read full details of how it works HERE. 

So that should eliminate the problems of unclear stamps, stamps being read wrongly or passports not getting the stamps they need.

Residents in France – carte de séjour and visa holders – are not required to complete EES checks and should have a separate system at ports, airports and railway terminals.

However, at present it’s pretty common for border guards to give incorrect information to non-EU residents who are resident in the EU – let’s hope that they are properly briefed before EES is deployed.

Have you had problems with passports being incorrectly stamped? Please share your experiences in the comments section below

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