News Digest: UK PM Joins Macron, Airline Strikes & New Laws for Airbnb & Gite Owners

Yesterday (11 November) marked the 106^th anniversary of the end of WWI, which is a national holiday (jour férié) known as Armistice Day in France. As is tradition, the French President attended the military parade and memorial ceremony in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe. This year, however, in a symbolic moment for Franco-British relations, President Emmanuel Macron was joined by British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.

It’s the first time that a British Prime Minister has joined the French commemorations since Winston Churchill joined Charles de Gaulle there in 1944. It was a poignant moment of unity between the two leaders as they laid wreaths together by the statues of Winston Churchill and Georges Clemenceau, then proceeded to relight the eternal flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. The French military band then played the two country’s national anthems, God Save the King and La Marseillaise. The Duchess of Edinburgh was also in attendance and gave a speech.

French unions have announced a series of strikes set to take place between this Thursday, 14 November, and next Thursday, 21 November. Pilots and airline workers are set to strike on Thursday 14^th, taking a stand against the government’s decision to raise solidarity taxes on airlines, which, according to the unions, is likely to bump up ticket prices and ultimately lead to the loss of jobs.

Delays are expected on Air France flights and other airlines with French-contracted pilots on Thursday, and the knock-on effect could see major delays at airports. If you’re flying on Thursday, keep a look out for information from your airline provider – you should be informed about effected flights today or tomorrow.

Additional strikes by French farmers will start on Friday, 15 November, and are likely to be ongoing, potentially affecting nationwide traffic as they did earlier in the year. SNCF railway workers have also announced widespread strikes for Thursday, the 21^st, with the four unions behind the strike promising continued strikes through December if their demands are not met. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more, but for now, it’s probably best to avoid train travel next Thursday unless absolutely necessary.

As more and more local communes move to block Airbnb applications and encourage such properties to re-enter the long-term rental market, the government approved a bill last Thursday, 7 November, to tighten regulations on short-term furnished rentals.

The bill, which has now been approved by both the Senate and the Assemblée Nationale (the two houses of France’s parliament), will reduce the tax allowances that are currently in place for landlords under the micro-BIC (micro-enterprise) tax regime. Under the new law, the tax allowance for classified furnished tourist rentals and chambre d’hôtes will fall to 50% from 71%, and the cap on annual earnings will be reduced to €77,700 from €188,700. For unclassified furnished rentals, which includes the majority of Airbnbs, the allowance will fall to 30% from 50%, and the cap will drop right down to €15,000 from the current €77,700.

In addition to this, the law will grant Maires and local authorities the right to define quotas for tourist accommodation in certain areas and to limit the maximum duration that main residences can be rented to tourists to 90 days.

The law will apply to income earned from 2025 onwards and will not be applied to income received in 2024 to be declared in 2025.

You can read more about the law here.

If you heard church bells ringing out in Paris last Friday, you weren’t mistaken! The eight bells of Notre Dame rang out on Friday, 8 November, at 10.30am for the first time since the famous landmark was devastated by fire back in April 2019.

The ringing of the church bells was, in fact, a soundcheck and mark a month before the grand reopening of the iconic cathedral, set for December 7th and 8th. The multi-million euro renovations have been extensive and painstaking, with around 250 companies working on the project over the year. Somehow, against the odds, they’ve achieved President Emmanuel Macron’s promise that the cathedral would be restored to its former grandeur within five years. “It is a wonderful, important and symbolic step,” said Philippe Jost, head of the official public company, Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, in charge of the renovations.