As of March, four stretches of motorway in France have replaced traditional toll barriers with a modern free-flow (flux-libre) system that records the number plates or toll-badges (télépéages) of vehicles that pass through.
Routes affected are the A13/A14, the A79 and the A4French Ministry of Ecological Transition
These are: the A13/A14, the A79 between Saône-et-Loire and Allier, and the A4 near Boulay.
The aim is for the traffic to be more free-flowing and to ease pollution.
Tolls can be paid via automatic payment through a toll-badge or an account with the motorway operator.
Alternatively, you can pay manually after (or with certain operators before) each journey at certain tabacs or by entering your vehicle’s details on the motorway concessionaire’s website. In the case of the latter, you have 72 hours after your trip to pay.
* A car-sharing lane covering the majority of Paris’ ring road (périphérique) also came into force in March. Covering most of the northern section of the ring road, lanes in both directions are limited to vehicles with at least one passenger – as well as to public transport, emergency service, licensed taxis and ride share vehicles. Similar lanes have been introduced on stretches of the A1 and A12/13 motorways.
Time to trap Asian hornets
Residents in France are being reminded to install Asian hornet traps in a bid to capture the ‘founding’ queen hornets before spring sets in, and prevent proliferation of the insects in summer.
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Queens – who do not die over the winter – come out of hibernation in tree stumps or from underground and begin to start new colonies when temperatures reach 13C and above. These new colonies appear as rounded nests, and are more fragile than more-established nests seen later in the season.
If you see a nest in your home or property, you are permitted to install a trap yourself.
In contrast, any nests discovered in public areas should be destroyed by specialists contracted by the local authority.
Recent negotiations between French supermarkets and their international suppliers have led to stable or reduced prices for some products in French supermarkets, benefiting consumers after years of high inflation.
Prices are expected to fall by around 2% on certain products including beauty and hygiene goods.
However, prices for items like orange juice, chocolate, and coffee are expected to rise by up to 15% due to climate impacts on major growing regions.
French electricity bills may increase by nearly 20% in 2026 due to a new tariff calculation method, warns consumer group UFC-Que Choisir.
The change follows a 15% drop in bills earlier this year, with concerns over rising supply costs and limited consumer benefits from EDF's redistribution mechanism.
The electricity suppliers themselves have called the 20% rise "fantasist", claiming that their planned changes will protect consumers from sharp price increases as were observed in 2022 at the start of the war in Ukraine.
The government has suspended its proposed reduction of VAT thresholds for micro-entrepreneurs until June to allow for further consultation.
Under the proposals, all workers, retailers and professionals who are self-employed as microentrepreneurs would have to charge 20% VAT once they earned more than €25,000 a year.
Critics argue that the measure would harm more than 200,000 self-employed workers by increasing their tax burden or reducing their revenue.
Health authorities in north-west France have commenced a meningitis vaccination campaign due to a surge in cases and deaths, particularly affecting young children, teenagers, and adults.
The Brittany Agence Régionale de Santé is targeting 15-24 year olds with free vaccinations, aiming to curb the spread of a virulent strain, and other regions may follow if cases continue to rise.
An estimated 100,000 people are being asked to have top-up jabs against the illness, with Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) a major focus of the cases seen so far this year.
Four major French banks, including Crédit Mutuel and Société Générale, are launching shared ATMs in rural areas to improve cash access.
The initiative, called 'Cash Services', aims to strategically place 10,000 ATMs by 2026, enhancing service without increasing total ATM numbers.
All the machines will display a single, black-and-white Cash Services logo, and will be maintained by each of the four banks.
They can be used to withdraw cash (free of charge for customers of the banks concerned), deposit cheques and money, make transfers, and access account balances.
More than two million French households without Linky smart meters face an extra charge of up to €63 due to additional costs incurred for manual meter readings.
The charge, effective from August 2025, aims to cover expenses related to maintaining dual systems and manual interventions by Enedis technicians.
France has introduced higher taxes on new ‘thermal’ (combustion engine) cars based on CO² emissions, affecting more vehicles each year until 2027.
The decision, which was part of the 2025 budget, aims to reduce emissions, but has been criticised by the car industry for potentially stagnating growth
From March 1 to December 31, 2025, the threshold for triggering the €50 penalty will be lowered to 113g of CO² per km.
This will fall to 108g of CO² per km in 2026 and again to 103g of CO² per km in 2027.
The maximum penalty will rise to €70,000 for vehicles producing more than 193g of CO² per km in March 2025, then to €80,000 in 2026, and to €90,000 in 2027.
Similarly, the weight malus will apply to vehicles weighing 1.5 tonnes or more from January 2026.
A full breakdown of the new taxes - and what models it will affect - is available here.
Three major French retailers plan to install 5,000 electric car charging ports across 350 car parks by 2028, offering three charging levels and discounts for members.
The new charging stations will belong to a new brand dubbed ‘Le Plein’. People signed up to the service receive a discount of 10% on prices as well as other benefits
Despite the expansion, French MPs voted against advancing the ban on combustion engine vehicles to 2035, citing the prohibitively high cost of electric vehicles.
Italian train operator Trenitalia has opened ticket sales for summer train journeys between Paris and Marseille.
The operator has been competing with French company SNCF on the Paris-Lyon-Milan route for the past three years, and will begin its Paris-Marseille services from June 15.
There will be four return trips daily, from Paris-Gare-de-Lyon to Marseille Saint-Charles, with intermediate stops at Lyon Saint-Exupéry, Avignon TGV, and Aix-en-Provence TGV.
Phone scammers entice jobseekers with international numbers
Scammers in France are increasingly using international numbers, particularly Dutch ones, to snare their victims by exploiting curiosity about unfamiliar call codes, says French scam alert service Signal-Arnaques.
These scams often involve offering payment for simple tasks, but ultimately trick victims into paying money for non-existent opportunities.
The Dutch phone numbers start with +31 (France’s code is +33).
In January, Signal-Arnaques also noted a rise in calls from scammers purporting to be from the UK, with +44 phone codes.
Access to a digital version of the French carte Vitale health card has been expanded to all departments.
It can be downloaded using the ‘carte Vitale’ app on a smartphone.
However, users must also have access to the France Identité app, which is only open to French citizens with a modern post-2021 credit-card style national ID card, limiting who can digitise their health card.
Those in the 23 departments already running the trial of the carte Vitale app will still be able to digitise their card without connecting it to their France Identité account, although they are the only ones currently able to do so.
Note this digital version does not replace the ability to use the physical format.
There are plans to widen the use of France Identité to everyone, including non-citizens, although nothing concrete has been announced.
The 2025 trout fishing season opened on March 8 and will run until September 21.
The dates on which fishing is authorised are determined by departmental prefectures on advice from the environmental agency, and vary depending on the water course and type of catch. These rules only apply to public water courses: the rights to fish in private lakes are held by the owner.
Anglers must have a valid licence to fish, which they can get by applying to their departmental association. See cartedepeche.fr.
A new decree in France requires restaurants to display the origin of pork, sheep, and poultry meat, including details of birth, rearing, and slaughter.
The new rule, effective from February 19, aims to enhance transparency and support local producers, with non-compliance risking fines up to €3,000.
Citroën has issued a 'stop-drive' alert for 236,000 vehicles in northern France due to faulty Takata airbags, urging owners to refrain from driving until repairs are made.
To check if your vehicle is affected by the order, consult the official Citroën recall website and follow the instructions to take your vehicle to be repaired where required.
However, the airbag issue is not limited to Citroën, with millions of vehicles made between 1998 and 2019 are also affected.
A major insurance error at Pilliot Assurances has left up to 75,000 vehicles in France uninsured for 2025, with HGVs and buses particularly affected, due to the broker's switch to an uncertified insurer.
Drivers are advised to verify their coverage immediately and refrain from driving until they confirm their insurance status to avoid penalties.
