https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The European Union's mammoth trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur provisionally enters into force Friday, despite a pending court ruling on its legality. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260501/blockbuster-eu-mercosur-trade-deal-enters-into-force Fri, 01 May 2026 09:52:06 +0200 blockbuster-eu-mercosur-trade-deal-enters-into-force France's economy recorded zero growth in the first quarter of this year due to "sluggish" domestic demand and a "strongly" negative contribution from foreign trade, the national statistics agency INSEE said Thursday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260430/french-economy-records-zero-growth-in-first-quarter Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:32:28 +0200 french-economy-records-zero-growth-in-first-quarter Celine Dion's fans are not the only ones excited about the megastar's new tour in Paris. Hotels, restaurants and shops are hoping for a multimillion-euro boost from concertgoers in the French capital. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260410/celine-dions-paris-concerts-promise-to-spin-the-money-on-and-on Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:08:17 +0200 celine-dions-paris-concerts-promise-to-spin-the-money-on-and-on France said Friday it was launching an emergency loan programme to help small and medium-sized businesses exposed to soaring fuel prices driven by the war in the Middle East. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260404/france-announces-crisis-loans-for-firms-hit-by-fuel-price-surge Sat, 04 Apr 2026 10:15:28 +0200 france-announces-crisis-loans-for-firms-hit-by-fuel-price-surge France's 2025 budget deficit was not as bad as predicted, giving a lift to government plans to reduce it under five percent, official figures showed on Friday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260327/french-budget-deficit-slightly-better-than-feared Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:35:06 +0100 french-budget-deficit-slightly-better-than-feared In the Middle East energy exports to Europe have been disrupted by the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran that has spilled into surrounding regions. Economic experts are predicting a spike in inflation. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260303/inflation-to-hit-eurozone-as-war-in-the-middle-east-disrupts-energy-flows Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:38:03 +0100 inflation-to-hit-eurozone-as-war-in-the-middle-east-disrupts-energy-flows French President Emmanuel Macron recently wrote to his US counterpart Donald Trump asking him to lift sanctions placed on several European figures, including former European commissioner Thierry Breton and ICC judge Nicolas Guillou, according to extracts of a letter seen by AFP. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260222/macron-asks-trump-to-lift-sanctions-on-european-officials Sun, 22 Feb 2026 15:16:40 +0100 macron-asks-trump-to-lift-sanctions-on-european-officials The European Central Bank said Friday it had fined French bank Credit Agricole €7.55 million ($9 million) for failing to properly identify climate change-related risks that could affect its balance sheet. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260214/ecb-fines-french-bank-for-climate-risk-failures Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:11:49 +0100 ecb-fines-french-bank-for-climate-risk-failures European leaders on Sunday hit back at US President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland, with far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni urging Washington against making a "mistake". https://www.thelocal.fr/20260118/european-leaders-denounce-trumps-tariff-threats-over-greenland Sun, 18 Jan 2026 09:46:34 +0100 european-leaders-denounce-trumps-tariff-threats-over-greenland The European Union will on Saturday sign a deal 25 years in the making with the South American trade bloc Mercosur, creating one of the world's largest free trade areas at a time of growing protectionism and volatility. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260117/eu-to-ink-long-awaited-trade-deal-with-south-american-bloc Sat, 17 Jan 2026 11:03:56 +0100 eu-to-ink-long-awaited-trade-deal-with-south-american-bloc France still opposes a proposed free-trade agreement between the European Union and South American trading bloc Mercosur, the French finance minister told a German newspaper in an interview published Sunday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251214/eu-mercosur-free-trade-pact-not-acceptable-as-is-french-minister Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:22:15 +0100 eu-mercosur-free-trade-pact-not-acceptable-as-is-french-minister French President Emmanuel Macron said he has threatened China with tariffs if Beijing fails to take steps to reduce its massive trade surplus with the EU, in remarks published Sunday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251207/frances-macron-threatens-china-with-tariffs-over-trade-surplus Sun, 07 Dec 2025 14:17:17 +0100 frances-macron-threatens-china-with-tariffs-over-trade-surplus France's lower house almost unanimously rejected the income section of the budget bill on Saturday, throwing more uncertainty onto whether the divided parliament can pass an austerity budget by year's end. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251122/france-budget-bill-hits-snag-as-lawmakers-overwhelmingly-reject-revenue-plans Sat, 22 Nov 2025 15:12:02 +0100 france-budget-bill-hits-snag-as-lawmakers-overwhelmingly-reject-revenue-plans France's lower house on Friday rejected a wealth tax proposed by the left, which has threatened to bring down the government if a levy on the super-rich is not in the budget. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251101/french-lawmakers-reject-wealth-tax-as-budget-tensions-mount Sat, 01 Nov 2025 09:31:10 +0100 french-lawmakers-reject-wealth-tax-as-budget-tensions-mount French lawmakers were due on Saturday to vote on a wealth tax, after a swing group threatened to topple the government if the levy was not added in next year's austerity budget. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251025/french-government-under-pressure-as-lawmakers-set-to-vote-on-wealth-tax Sat, 25 Oct 2025 17:26:02 +0200 french-government-under-pressure-as-lawmakers-set-to-vote-on-wealth-tax French Prime Sebastien Lecornu vowed he would finally appoint a new government by the beginning of October, adding that it was "out of the question" that he would propose an austerity budget, in an interview published Friday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250927/french-pm-vows-new-government-early-october-no-austerity-budget Sat, 27 Sep 2025 09:46:06 +0200 french-pm-vows-new-government-early-october-no-austerity-budget France’s public debt has ballooned to a record €3.4 trillion, official data showed Thursday, piling pressure on new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu as he confronts protests and political turmoil. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250925/frances-new-pm-faces-mounting-budget-pressure-as-debt-hits-e3-4-trillion Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:57:32 +0200 frances-new-pm-faces-mounting-budget-pressure-as-debt-hits-e3-4-trillion Have you ever wondered how Paris can sustain so many small independent shops? Well, it's not just down to the French lifestyle. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180622/how-do-all-the-independent-shops-in-paris-survive Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:34:28 +0200 how-do-all-the-independent-shops-in-paris-survive The Fitch agency downgraded France's credit rating on Friday, as President Emmanuel Macron struggles with political instability and disagreements on how to put the country's strained public finances in order. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250913/fitch-downgrades-frances-credit-rating-in-new-debt-blow Sat, 13 Sep 2025 09:58:42 +0200 fitch-downgrades-frances-credit-rating-in-new-debt-blow The sun is shining, the grapes are ripe and a good harvest is expected but a heavy cloud is looming over Laurent Dubois's vineyard in southwestern France. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250822/embattled-bordeaux-winemakers-see-trumps-tariffs-as-latest-blow Fri, 22 Aug 2025 19:41:35 +0200 embattled-bordeaux-winemakers-see-trumps-tariffs-as-latest-blow