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 France is expected to break its own tourism economy records in 2025, according to latest data from the World Travel and Tourism Council. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250619/france-on-track-to-break-its-own-tourist-records-in-2025 Thu, 19 Jun 2025 13:45:00 +0200 france-on-track-to-break-its-own-tourist-records-in-2025 French nuclear giant Orano said on Wednesday it had nearly tripled its profits in 2024 thanks to contracts with Japanese utilities and a rise in the price of uranium. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250219/french-nuclear-giant-orano-triples-profits Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:56:54 +0100 french-nuclear-giant-orano-triples-profits The owners of the world's last dedicated Meccano toy factory have said it will close by next year after more than half a century in France because of rising costs. https://www.thelocal.fr/20230224/worlds-last-meccano-factory-to-close-next-year-in-france Fri, 24 Feb 2023 10:02:16 +0100 worlds-last-meccano-factory-to-close-next-year-in-france The only thing certain about Brexit at the moment is that Britons in France and elsewhere in the EU are asking a lot of questions about the future. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160630/seven-burning-issues-about-brexit-for-british-expats Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:05:43 +0200 seven-burning-issues-about-brexit-for-british-expats There was more bad news for France on the economic front on Wednesday as another study claimed that the British economy was currently in the process of overtaking the French as Europe’s second largest. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150506/uk-economy-leapfrogs-france-new-study-claims Wed, 06 May 2015 12:13:54 +0200 uk-economy-leapfrogs-france-new-study-claims There was more bad news for the French economy on Thursday, this time in the form of a business activity survey of the country's private sector which suggested the economy was grinding to a halt again. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150423/french-economy-on-verge-of-stalling-again Thu, 23 Apr 2015 17:01:30 +0200 french-economy-on-verge-of-stalling-again In what will be a bitter blow to French morale and the government, reports in France on Wednesday claim the country has been overtaken by the UK as the world’s fifth economic power. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150107/uk-leapfrogs-france-as-worlds-fifth-economic-power Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:34:00 +0100 uk-leapfrogs-france-as-worlds-fifth-economic-power French Prime Minister Manuel Valls wrote to Socialist MPs on Monday pleading with them to back his program of spending cuts, which goes before a vote in the National Assembly on Monday. Valls described the vote as a "moment of truth" for France. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140428/france-economy-revolt-before-moment-of-truth Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:37:00 +0200 france-economy-revolt-before-moment-of-truth The French economy is set to grow by a minimal amount in the first quarter of 2014, the country's central bank confirmed on Friday. France's economy is forecast to grow around 1 percent in 2014, which does not compare favourably to predictions for the UK or Germany. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140310/french-economy-set-for-minimal-growth Mon, 10 Mar 2014 13:00:00 +0100 french-economy-set-for-minimal-growth Poor personal hygiene cost French companies a staggering €14.5 billion in 2013, according to a new study published this week. The report did not smell much sweeter for British and German companies, which also suffered big losses because of uncleanliness. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140226/lack-of-hygiene-cost-french-economy-145-bn-in-2013 Wed, 26 Feb 2014 19:04:00 +0100 lack-of-hygiene-cost-french-economy-145-bn-in-2013 France’s embassy in the UK hit back this week against criticism from a British newspaper that the country is becoming “a tragedy” and in doing so has taken a swipe at the UK, the NHS and its transport system. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140114/french-sparks-row-defends-france-with-brit-bashing Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:39:00 +0100 french-sparks-row-defends-france-with-brit-bashing The UK's Prime Minister David Cameron began 2014 by firing off a barb in the direction of France. In a newspaper article this week he boasted that Britain would become the flagship post-recession economy, in what was reported as a swipe at France's "disastrous" economic policies. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140102/uk-pm-starts-2014-with-swipe-at-france Thu, 02 Jan 2014 09:24:00 +0100 uk-pm-starts-2014-with-swipe-at-france French President Francois Hollande sought to boost trade with Saudi Arabia on Monday as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the oil-rich kingdom. The French head of state told Saudi business chiefs "we can provide you with what you want". https://www.thelocal.fr/20131231/hollande-promotes-trade-on-saudi-trip Tue, 31 Dec 2013 09:27:00 +0100 hollande-promotes-trade-on-saudi-trip British economic policies have created mass poverty and inequality and France will not be copying them. That was the view of none other than France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. Read what else he had to say about the UK. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131220/france-will-not-copy-british-ayrault-finance-poverty Fri, 20 Dec 2013 10:20:00 +0100 france-will-not-copy-british-ayrault-finance-poverty The French are predominantly pessimistic about the future of their country, as well as divided and bitter towards their fellow citizens, particularly "scroungers", according to two sweeping polls published recently. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131211/french-are-bitter-divided-and-pessimistic Wed, 11 Dec 2013 19:50:00 +0100 french-are-bitter-divided-and-pessimistic The latest figures on the French economy were released on Thursday and they dealt a further blow to beleagured President François Hollande. The country's finance minister however was quick to play down the significance of the data. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131114/new-french-economy-figures-deal-blow-to-hollande Thu, 14 Nov 2013 11:53:00 +0100 new-french-economy-figures-deal-blow-to-hollande With France mired in economic crisis and stagnation, President François Hollande’s cabinet on Wednesday signed off on €15 billion worth of cuts and taxes. Here’s a breakdown of how Budget 2014 might affect you. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130925/french-budget-2014-what-matters-to-you Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:53:00 +0200 french-budget-2014-what-matters-to-you France's return to a modest economic growth in 2013, was confirmed by optimistic forecasts released by the OECD on Tuesday. The Paris based organisation says France is heading for a 0.3 percent growth this year. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130903/france-set-for-surprise-return-to-gdp-growth Tue, 03 Sep 2013 14:56:00 +0200 france-set-for-surprise-return-to-gdp-growth Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici has said the economy is out of recession but has revised down the country's growth for this year, estimating gross domestic product will end up somewhere between -0.1 percent and 0.1 percent. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130811/minister-france-is-out-of-recession Sun, 11 Aug 2013 13:01:00 +0200 minister-france-is-out-of-recession Nearly one in two French people consider themselves poor or fear they soon will be, said a survey published Thursday ahead of a national poverty conference that comes amid a period of prolonged economic stagnation. https://www.thelocal.fr/20121207/almost-half-french-feel-poverty-pinch-survey-says Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:12:00 +0100 almost-half-french-feel-poverty-pinch-survey-says