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 Uber has said that it would take a stake in a French hydrogen taxi company with a goal of having 2,000 models on its reservation platform for business clients within five years. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260422/uber-takes-stake-in-french-hydrogen-taxi-start-up Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:22:40 +0200 uber-takes-stake-in-french-hydrogen-taxi-start-up French prosecutors have demanded Italian car maker Fiat face trial on fraud charges over the emissions-tampering scandal that struck German giant Volkswagen. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250717/french-prosecutors-demand-fiat-face-trial-in-diesel-scandal Thu, 17 Jul 2025 10:45:35 +0200 french-prosecutors-demand-fiat-face-trial-in-diesel-scandal The EU still hopes to strike a deal with the United States despite President Donald Trump's ramped-up threat of 30-percent tariffs, the bloc's trade chief said Monday, with pressure on Brussels to toughen its stance. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250714/eu-still-seeking-trade-deal-after-new-trump-tariff-threat Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:32:59 +0200 eu-still-seeking-trade-deal-after-new-trump-tariff-threat France has made a new bet on tech sovereignty by announcing  a major investment in Eutelsat, part of a wider capital increase announced by the Starlink competitor and President Emmanuel Macron’s office. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250620/france-finds-cash-for-strategic-asset-satellite-firm-eutelsat Fri, 20 Jun 2025 10:59:43 +0200 france-finds-cash-for-strategic-asset-satellite-firm-eutelsat French President Emmanuel Macron described the reduction of US tariffs on the EU to 10 percent as a ‘fragile pause’, and said Europe must therefore “mobilise all available levers to protect itself”. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250411/europe-must-mobilise-all-levers-over-fragile-us-tariffs-pause-macron Fri, 11 Apr 2025 10:54:36 +0200 europe-must-mobilise-all-levers-over-fragile-us-tariffs-pause-macron As France faces a 2035 deadline to phase out new combustion engine cars, workers in the industry worry their days might be numbered too. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240804/electric-vehicle-transition-worries-french-car-industry-workers Sun, 04 Aug 2024 10:08:13 +0200 electric-vehicle-transition-worries-french-car-industry-workers Dozens of miles inland from the English Channel, the Seine River port of Rouen is bustling with shipments of wheat, barley and other grains, a boom fuelled by the Russian chokehold on Ukraine's agriculture exports. https://www.thelocal.fr/20230223/ukraine-war-turns-french-port-of-rouen-into-grain-powerhouse Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:21:01 +0100 ukraine-war-turns-french-port-of-rouen-into-grain-powerhouse Industrial metals firm Imerys said on Monday it plans to open one of Europe's largest lithium mines in central France by 2027 to help support the continent's move towards electric vehicles. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221024/one-of-europes-largest-lithium-mines-to-open-in-france-to-supply-electric-car-industry Mon, 24 Oct 2022 12:34:41 +0200 one-of-europes-largest-lithium-mines-to-open-in-france-to-supply-electric-car-industry French champagne producers will ring in 2022 with at least one hiccup - starting Saturday, they must comply with a new Russian law prohibiting them from calling their bubbly by its Russian name, an affront that has infuriated the industry. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211231/french-producers-must-describe-champagne-as-sparkling-wine-in-russia Fri, 31 Dec 2021 18:10:20 +0100 french-producers-must-describe-champagne-as-sparkling-wine-in-russia US industrial conglomerate General Electric said on Tuesday that it would cut more than 1,000 jobs, mainly at its gas turbine operations in eastern France, part of a wave of European layoffs as it tries to stem losses in its power generation business. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190528/after-promising-to-create-1000-jobs-in-france-ge-set-to-cut-1044 Tue, 28 May 2019 16:33:49 +0200 after-promising-to-create-1000-jobs-in-france-ge-set-to-cut-1044 French officials were under pressure on Thursday to save the jobs of hundreds of French steel workers at factories facing an uncertain future after the collapse of British Steel, whose assets will be sold to pay off its debt load. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190523/government-under-pressure-to-save-jobs-at-british-steels-plant-in-france Thu, 23 May 2019 14:57:16 +0200 government-under-pressure-to-save-jobs-at-british-steels-plant-in-france A French company has opened up a new factory making cassettes after a surge in demand for the retro music form from artists including Ariane Grande and Justin Bieber. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190322/french-firm-opens-factory-making-first-cassettes-since-1990s-after-artists-like-taylor-swift-go-for-retro-tapes Fri, 22 Mar 2019 11:39:42 +0100 french-firm-opens-factory-making-first-cassettes-since-1990s-after-artists-like-taylor-swift-go-for-retro-tapes A growing diplomatic row between Italy and France has been defused after Paris and Rome thrashed out a deal that will alow th Italians to take a majority stake in the country's biggest shipyard. https://www.thelocal.fr/20170928/france-allows-italy-to-take-majority-control-of-prestigious-shipyard Thu, 28 Sep 2017 10:34:51 +0200 france-allows-italy-to-take-majority-control-of-prestigious-shipyard France will just about avoid a recession but the economic outlook is not as positive as was first forecast. https://www.thelocal.fr/20161007/france-to-dodge-recession-but-outlook Fri, 07 Oct 2016 10:26:13 +0200 france-to-dodge-recession-but-outlook The French government has confirmed that it will order 15 high-speed TGV trains in a bid to prevent the historic Alstom train-building plant from closing. https://www.thelocal.fr/20161004/french-state-orders-15-high-speed-trains-to-save-factory Tue, 04 Oct 2016 13:12:28 +0200 french-state-orders-15-high-speed-trains-to-save-factory France has long been considered far more costly than Germany when it comes to labour costs, but times are changing. When it comes to industry France is now cheaper, new figures show. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151029/french-industry-workers-cheaper-than-germany Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:08:41 +0100 french-industry-workers-cheaper-than-germany Two blasts at a petrochemical plant in France appear to have been a "criminal act" but investigators have been unable to pin down a motive, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150715/french-chemical-explosions-were-criminal-act-minister Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:48:58 +0200 french-chemical-explosions-were-criminal-act-minister The French government has been forced to increase security at sensitive industrial sites after two explosions at a petrochemical plant on Tuesday were believed to have been a “malicious act”. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150715/france-to-boost-security-at-industrial-plants Wed, 15 Jul 2015 10:29:05 +0200 france-to-boost-security-at-industrial-plants France moved this week to make it harder for companies to shut down doomed factories without having made adequate attempts to save them. It comes after the French president was accused of breaking a promise to steelworkers over the closure of part of their plant. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140225/france-industry-florange Tue, 25 Feb 2014 09:24:00 +0100 france-industry-florange Crisis, what crisis? While certain sectors in France continue to suffer in the downturn France's arms industry is doing a roaring trade. A new report, that won't be welcomed by pacifists, revealed this week that sales of arms abroad have rocketed. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140130/arms-france-sold-a-lot-of-weapons-in-2013 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 15:34:00 +0100 arms-france-sold-a-lot-of-weapons-in-2013