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WHAT CHANGES IN FRANCE

The new laws in France in 2024

From driving to recycling, property taxes to (maybe) new rules on immigration - here are the new laws that come into effect in France in 2024.

Published: 2 January 2024 08:43 CET
The new laws in France in 2024
New laws will affect drivers in France in 2024. Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

Immigration?

We may see a host of new rules relating to foreigners in France, from compulsory language tests for residency cards, restrictions on benefits and citizenship and a deposit required for foreign students.

Language tests and migrant quotas – What the immigration law means for foreigners in France

These are all contained in France’s new immigration law, that was passed in parliament just before Christmas. It still, however, needs to clear an important hurdle – approval by the Constitutional Council. Experts believe that several aspects of the bill will be blocked or altered by the council.

If the law – or indeed a revised version of the law – is approved by the Council, then it is up to the government to decide when it comes into effect, probably some time in 2024, at least for parts of it.

You can follow all the latest developments with the bill here.

While things are quite uncertain with the immigration bill, the rest of the laws mentioned here have all been passed and approved and are scheduled to come into effect in 2024.

Adopting pets

A new measure banning prospective pet owners from purchasing dogs or cats in pet stores (animaleries) went into effect at the start of 2024.

Pet stores will no longer have the right to sell dogs and cats, but they will still be able to able to offer snakes, reptiles, rabbits, rodents, birds, and fish.

Recycling

France has a wide-ranging anti-waste law that has been gradually tightening up rules on recycling since 2021, and will continue to do so until 2026.

You can find full details of the bill here, but here’s what comes into effect in 2024;

Composting – From January 1st, 2024 comes ‘compulsory composting’ – it’s not quite as draconian as it sounds, it doesn’t make composting compulsory for all households, it just makes it compulsory for local authorities to offer composting facilities to people who want to use them.

Exactly what form this takes (kitchen waste bins, communal composting facilities) is up to each local authority, and indeed in many places local authorities are already offering this – full details here.

Repair bonus – There will also be extensions to the ‘repair bonus’ scheme, which offers money off repairs of items including phones, electrical items, clothes and shoes in order to encourage people to repair stuff, rather than thrown it away.

Starting in 2024, a total of 73 products will be eligible, with help ranging from €15 to €60 – including €25 to repair a smashed phone screen and €50 to repair a smashed computer or tablet screen. Full details here.

Manufacturers will also be obliged to give more detail on how long items are expected to last for and how they can be repaired.

Universal phone chargers – just scraping into 2024 is the new law on mobile phone chargers, which is due to come into effect at the end of the year, on December 28th.

It will oblige manufacturers of all phones sold in France to use the USB-C port for chargers, meaning that any charger can be used with any phone and there will be no need to get a new charger every time you get a new phone. The measure is intended to cut waste and codifies EU guidelines into French law. Full details here.

Microplastics – from January 1st, 2024 France will ban the sale of medical devices containing microplastics (mostly disposable medical devices such as syringes).  This follows on from earlier bans on microplastics in other products, and a ban on single use plastics.

Driving

Several new driving laws go into effect in 2024, plus some financial aid for drivers.

Speed limits – limits themselves will stay the same, but motorists caught speeding up to five kilometres over the limit will no longer risk losing a point on their driving licence, although they will still be liable for a fine. This law actually came into effect late in 2023.

Car insurance – from April 1st, vehicles will no longer have to display the little green cards in the windscreen to prove that they have insurance. The cards will be replaced by an automated system accessible to law enforcement (so you still need to make sure that your vehicle is insured).

Motorbike tests – Life on two wheels will change from April, when EU-wide rules requiring motorbikes and scooters to undergo roadworthiness tests start to roll out across France. This expands the Côntrole technique road-worthiness check that is already required for cars, vans and lorries to motorbikes and mopeds.

Snow tyres – since 2022 it has been compulsory for drivers in certain areas of France to have either snow tyres, chains or all-weather tyres between November 1st and March 31st. However there was a three-year ‘grace period’ when drivers were only given a warning if they were stopped by police. From November 2024, fines will be issued to drivers who do not comply. Full details here.

Fuel grant – A one-off means-tested payment of €100 is available for motorists on a low income who need their car for work, the 2023 scheme having been extended for a year. The online portal to apply for the grant – paid per motorist, not per household – opens on January 16th. 

Electric car leasing scheme – in order to encourage more households to switch to an electric vehicle, the government is offering a €100 a month leasing scheme. It is set to start in January, although no exact date has yet been given – full details here.

Property taxes

Property taxes – Dozens of local authorities in areas where there is a housing shortage will gain the power to increase taxes on second homes in order to fund more affordable housing for locals from January 2024.

Whether they decide to use the power, and how much the increase will be, is up to local authorities (although the increase is capped at 60 percent). 

Property tax declaration – If you filled out the property tax declaration last year, and if you have not bought or sold property in the meantime, then you will not have to complete the declaration again this year. However people who have purchased a French property in the last year will have to complete the property tax declaration – full details here. 

Travel

This doesn’t just affect France as it is an EU rule, but it will certain affect travel in and out of France from non-EU countries.

The EU’s long-delayed EES (Entry & Exit System) is now due to be introduced in the ‘second half’ of 2024.  An exact date is still TBC (although a leaked document names Sunday, October 6th as the start date) but the changes will affect how passports are scanned at the border and how the 90-day rule is applied.

It require all visitors (not French citizens, French residents or French visa holders) entering France from outside the EU (eg the UK, the USA or Canada) to undergo enhanced passport checks including fingerprinting and facial scans. 

A second EU border change – which involves all visitors getting a €7 ‘ETIAS visa waiver’ before travel – is due to be implemented in the first half of 2025. Full details on what both of those changes will mean for you HERE. 

Local laws

It’s not only the national government in France that can make laws – local authorities can and do pass laws that affect their area.

SUV restrictions – the city of Lyon has already introduced extra parking charges for heavy vehicles and Paris could follow suit, it’s holding a referendum on the issue in February. The debate has been followed with interest across France, so other local authorities could follow suit.

Diesel vehicle restrictions – the Crit’Air system which restrictions older, more polluting vehicles from cities is also done on a local level, and several cities are set to expand their emissions restrictions in 2024. 

Pedestrianisation – several local authorities, including Paris, also have ongoing plans to pedestrianise more areas and expand cycle lanes.

Paris Olympics – speaking of Paris, there will be extra security restrictions in place between July 26th and September 8th, when the capital hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games (although reports that you will need a QR code to walk around the city are greatly exaggerated).

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READER QUESTION

Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

As cafés in Spain launch a crackdown on remote workers who hog tables for hours without buying anything, what's the etiquette over working from a café in France?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:30 CEST
Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

Reader question: I’m visiting France shortly and I will need to do some work while I’m there – is it socially acceptable to go to a café and use my laptop there?

Over the border in Spain, cafés in Valencia, Barcelona and Santiago are reportedly ‘on a war footing’ against laptop-users, with some cutting the wifi during peak hours or just banning them altogether.

Fortunately in France, things are a little more relaxed – although this will depend on exactly where you are and how busy the café is. 

First things first – there are no local or national laws about laptop use in cafés (which you might think is a given but France does love to legislate) so the rules are up to the individual café owner and their staff. 

Culturally, however, there is something of a tradition of working in French cafés – famous writers from Victor Hugo to Ernest Hemmingway wrote novels while loitering in cafés, philosophers from Voltaire to Jean-Paul Sartre held discussion groups in Paris cafés and poverty-stricken artists have attempted to pay for their drinks with paintings (usually unsuccessfully).

In more modern times it’s completely normal for work-related meetings to be held in cafés while in cities where people tend to live in small apartments it’s common for social groups such as book clubs to meet in cafés.

But how does this all relate to opening up your laptop and getting down to work?

Well is varies, but there are a few things to think about;

Location – working on a laptop is undoubtedly more common in cities than it is in smaller places and in areas like the Paris or Bordeaux businesses districts it is a common site to see people typing away, perhaps in between business meetings that they have lined up in the café. 

Café size/occupation – take a look around you, is the café busy with people waiting for tables? Is it a tiny place with only space for a few tables? In these cases you’re less likely to be welcome to loiter for hours. If, however, things are quiet and there are plenty of tables it probably won’t be a problem to spend a few hours catching up with work 

Time of day – while this may vary in smaller towns, most city cafés are open all day – catering for the breakfast crowd, then into morning coffee, lunch and leading into the apéro hour and dinner.

Naturally cafés get busier at lunchtime (12 noon to 2pm) and when apéro starts (usually about 6pm) so you’re likely to be less welcome to take up a table for long periods during these times. If you’ve been there all morning and the server pointedly starts adding cutlery to your table, it’s probably a sign that they want the table back for the lunch-time busy period. You could of course order lunch yourself. 

Type of café – not all cafés are created equal and there are many different types. While most places have no problem with people working there, in recent years some Paris cafés have decided to impose limits on laptop use.

One of those is the Fringe café in the trendy Marais district. Owner Jeff told The Local: “I’m not against laptops, but I am against the minority of users who will sit down for four or five hours, with the cheapest drink. That’s not respectful to the space, so the decision came about because of those few who do that. We call them squatters.”

However this view is far from universal. Nix Audon, a server at Café de la Poste, said: “We evolve with the times, we even offer wifi for free. People can come, relax, and do what they need to.”

Before Nix worked at Café de la Poste, he was a customer. “I would come here every day after work just to relax. For me, café culture is about being able to chill, and sit for however long you want. Cafés are a huge part of social life for Parisians and café culture is intended to be inclusive of everyone, including those who want to sit and work on their laptops.”

While this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, we’ve noticed that most of the places that do have laptop bans are more ‘coffee shops’ in the American style (think loads of different coffee types with elaborate alternative milk options and big slabs of cake) than traditional French cafés (oat milk is for baby oats but the wine selection is excellent).

Do you need to order something? Yes, absolutely, it is only polite to order something if you intend to take up a table for long periods and no that thing cannot be tap water (which is free in French bars, restaurants and cafés).

How much you need to order depends on how long you want to stay – but staying all day and ordering a single espresso (roughly €2) would definitely be regarded as pushing your luck.

That said, French cafés mostly have a ‘no hurry’ policy and you’re unlikely to be rushed out as soon as you have finished your drink unless the café is very busy and you’re in a very touristy area. Lingering over a single coffee while you people-watch and/or think great thoughts is definitely part of France’s traditional culture.

Just ask – of course, you can just ask if it’s OK to work there. The places that don’t appreciate laptop users usually have a sign up to that effect, sometimes just covering a specific time like asking people not to use laptops at weekends or in the evening.

But if you’re unsure, just ask your server 

J’aimerais travailler sur mon ordinateur pendant quelques heures, si c’est possible ? – I’d like to work on my laptop for a couple of hours, if that’s OK?

Je peux utiliser un ordinateur portable ici ? – Is it OK to use a laptop here?

Alternatives – if you want to do more than a couple of hours of work, you might look for a more formal solution. France has a variety of options for people who need a work space, with the most popular being ‘un co-working‘ – a shared workspace where you pay for your time by the hour or the day.

Many of the larger and more business-orientated hotels also offer work spaces and meeting spaces.

Meanwhile in the larger cities there is the trend of ‘un co-homing‘ where people open up their apartments – for a fee – to people who need a space to work, plus a little social interaction.

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