24 recent updates for life in France you may have missed
Changes to household bills, new social media tax checks, altered travel rules and more
Life updates in France include free instant bank transfers, falling energy prices, the upcoming reopening of the Tende Tunnel and grants for quieter gardening toolsMiha Creative / michelangeloop / ProximaCentauri1 / Budimir Jevtic | Shutterstock
Several key changes have come into place in France since the start of 2025, including free instant money transfers and social media tax checks.
Further updates, such as falling interest rates on certain savings accounts and the rise of unmarked speed radar cars, are expected to be rolled out as the year continues.
Money
1. Electricity bills to fall
People will see energy bills dropmichelangeloop/Shutterstock
A price shield protecting people from higher electricity bills during the 2022 energy crisis ends on February 1 – but those on regulated tariffs or contracts linked to them will still see bills fall considerably.
One kilowatt hour should cost about €0.215 net, compared with €0.2516 in the last days of 2024. This is in part due to a drop in electricity’s market price, aided by an increase in French nuclear production, which EDF says was 19.7% higher in November 2024 than November 2023.
2. Free instant money transfers
Instant money transfers from French accounts are now free in most cases following new rules for eurozone banks. These transfers – which pay into the designated account in around 10 seconds, rather than several days – must be offered at the same rate as a standard transfer, which is free in most cases.
The rate of inflation is set to drop this year. Data suggest prices will be more stable moving forward than in more difficult times seen since 2022. The figures are based on a basket of goods, including common foods, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (eg. gas, petrol, oil), as well as national fees and taxes.
Inflation fell in 2024 due to declining energy and food prices and a strong slowdown in services prices.
4. Savings interest rate to fall
The interest rate of the Livret A savings account drops from 3% to 2.4% on February 1. No other changes to the government-regulated and tax-free savings account will be made, meaning the maximum deposit threshold will still be €22,950, although interest can be accrued and added annually to increase this amount.
The rate for the Livret d’épargne populaire (LEP) for low-income households will fall from 4% to 3.5%. The Finance Ministry adopted the rates – long expected due to slowing inflation after its peak during the pandemic – following recommendations from the Banque de France.
5. Price rise for gas boilers
The VAT rate for ‘very high energy performance’ gas boiler installation and equipment has risen from 5.5% to 10%.
This means the least polluting gas boilers, still more polluting than alternatives such as heat pumps, will be taxed at the same rate as other gas boilers. If you already have a gas boiler or signed a quote and made a deposit before January 1, the change will not affect you.
The VAT rate was originally planned to increase to 20% in the budget. It may change again in the new 2025 budget as and when it is passed.
Lyon has introduced a water-pricing system in which the first few cubic metres are free, with fees on volumes above this. The measure aims to reduce water consumption by 15% by 2035.
Up to 12m3 per household per year is free. After that, prices increase to €1.29 per m3 for 12m3-180m3, excluding VAT, and €2.59 per m3 above this.
The Carte PASS offered shoppers a 5% discount on purchases along with a voucher for €3 for every €60 spent on specific days. These discount days – known as journées Carte PASS (PASS card days) – were discontinued from January 13, and replaced with a 15% discount on its own-brand products on specific days.
8. Claiming RSA gets harder
Tougher rules have come into force for those who receive the RSA (Revenu de solidarité active) low-income benefit.
All RSA recipients will have to ‘work’ at least 15 hours a week to support their jobseeking efforts, and they and their spouses will be automatically registered with France Travail.
The information must be provided in the état des risques document supplied to buyers. It must also be mentioned in property listings, but this can be limited to a reference to consult the Géorisques site about risks to which the property is exposed.
10. DPEs might need updating
Many energy performance certificates (diagnostics de performance énergétique, DPE) are now out of date.
Since January 1, DPEs are no longer valid if carried out between January 1, 2018, and July 31, 2021. If you wish to sell or let your property, you, as the owner, will need to arrange for a new DPE to be undertaken.
Normally, a DPE rating is valid for 10 years. However, new criteria to assess the DPE according to the quality of the property’s insulation were introduced in July 2021. The new method also uses standardised, objective criteria.
Mougins, near Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), will pay up to 30% towards tools such as hedge trimmers, lawnmowers, and leaf blowers if they meet certain ‘low noise’ rules.
It will be trialled for a year and extended if shown to have cut noise.
12. Smart meter incentive
Homeowners who refuse the installation of a Linky smart electricity meter are to start receiving extra charges from Enedis. The meters are currently installed in 90% of households.
Enedis is also going to step up checks on Linky meters to reduce fraud following an increase in ‘hacks’ to artificially reduce bills.
Transport & travel
13. UK changes rules on ETAs
UK ETA approval could increase in priceBrookgardener / Shutterstock
The UK will no longer require non-UK citizen travellers merely transiting through Heathrow and Manchester airports on the way to somewhere else, to have its ETA online pre-approval to visit.
Changes to public transport in Paris are now in place, including a Paris visite tourist pass and a flat ticket fee for travel across the region, in an attempt to simplify the system.
A single ticket for train, metro and RER journeys across Ile-de-France is now €2.50. For bus and tram journeys, it is €2. If passengers want to use both services in one journey – first get the train and then a bus – they will need two tickets, one of each type.
The old T+ tickets, the Navigo Easy pass, and tickets showing the point of departure and destination will remain valid until December 31 2025.
15. Rise in radar cars
More unmarked speed radar cars – run by private firms or police that patrol roads – are set to be rolled out across France in 2025. Most regions had these cars in operation in 2024.
Three regions will see more this year: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, according to specialist website Automobile Magazine.
These regions are set to have 500-550 vehicles on the roads by the end of the year, up from some 400 currently. The Ile-de-France region is, for now, covered only by police. Apart from this, Corsica is the only region not to have the speed radar cars in operation.
16. Changes to driving licences
Several rules on driving licences have changed. Driving test applicants can now retrieve their numéro d’enregistrement préfectoral harmonisé (NEPH, registration number) online. New licences and cartes grises, will be sent by tracked letter, rather than registered post, no longer requiring signature on delivery.
If your licence has been lost, stolen or damaged, you can download an attestation de droit à conduire sécurisée attesting to your right to drive from mespoints.permisdeconduire.gouv.fr while a new card is sent. It is valid for four months.
Previously banned outside of a recent trial, it is dependent on certain rules being followed.
The rules state that it can only be done on motorways or on roads with a central reservation with at least two lanes on each side and with a usual speed limit of between 70-130 km/h, or where this was the previous limit and has been lowered, such as Paris’s périphérique.
Intention to go between lanes and return to the main lanes must be made clear, ie, using the vehicle’s indicators. Motorcyclists must filter only between the two lanes furthest to the left, and cannot drive faster than 50 km/h when filtering. If traffic on any of the lanes is stationary, they are limited to 30 km/h.
18. Channel Island ferries
DFDS hopes its new ferry service in Jersey will be ready by March 28. It was awarded the 20-year contract following a competitive tender process.
Rival Brittany Ferries argued there had been bias and called for a review, but in January the Court of Appeal ruled there were “no arguable grounds”.
Guernsey has chosen Condor Ferries, a subsidiary of Brittany Ferries, to operate routes from the island for the next 15 years from March.
Victims of an AdBlue software bug in their Citroën, DS, Opel or Peugeot cars, manufactured between January 2014 and August 2020, are to be reimbursed for repairs.
The Stellantis group, which owns these brands, announced the move following pressure from consumer groups. UFC Que-Choisir, in particular, led the pressure from France, receiving more than 7,000 complaints from drivers. A software bug led to some vehicles not starting. Visit stellantis-support.com/v2/ to submit a request.
The Tende Tunnel, in Alpes-Maritimes, has been closed since 2013 due to work to allow two-way traffic. Traffic will initially still only run one-way – alternating between the countries – as work to modernise parts of the original 19th Century tunnel will not begin before construction of a new tunnel is complete.
Health & Wellbeing
21. Painkiller prescriptions
Barcodes will be required for painkiller prescriptionsSander van der Werf / Shutterstock
Prescriptions for certain strong painkillers, such as tramadol or codeine, must be in a ‘digital’ format with a barcode from March to reduce the risk of fraud.
This was due to start from December but was delayed as some pharmacies were not ready for the change.
Users can do this by sending in a photo of themselves or an identity document showing their age. Specialist software masks their identity.
Websites that currently prove a person’s identification via their bank card have until April 11 to enact the new rules. Other sites should have, in theory, enacted the rules on January 11.
So far the rules apply only to sites based outside of the EU.
Technology
23. Universal chargers launch
Universal chargers aim to reduce electronic wasteDragana Gordic / Shutterstock
Second-hand or reconditioned devices are not subject to the rule, nor does the legislation stipulate like-for-like charging speeds between chargers of different brands.
24. Tax checks on social media
Tax authorities can now look at public social media activity using automated tools and AI to reduce fraud. The measures came into force in January.
Authorities have permission to create their own social media accounts to analyse publicly-available information on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn. They will look for signs of tax fraud, and check if the taxpayer’s lifestyle matches that suggested by tax returns.
They will also look for those who appear to be living in France but claim – for tax reasons – to be domiciled elsewhere.
