News Digest: Gas Prices Soar & US Moves to Green List

Yesterday (March 14^th) marked a turning point for France’s Covid-19 health restrictions with the lifting of the Vaccine Pass (Pass Vaccinal). The pass, which started as the Health Pass (Pass Sanitaire), has been in effect since summer 2021 and has been required for entrance to bars, restaurants, leisure facilities, tourist sites, long-distance trains, and large public events.

From now on, the pass will no longer be required in any of the above-mentioned venues. However, proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test result (taken within 24 hours) will still be required to enter hospitals and care homes. While this suspension looks set to remain in place for the time being, it is possible that France may reintroduce the vaccine pass if there are further waves of Covid-19 in the future.

Another change from yesterday is that masks are no longer required in most indoor areas, including workplaces and shops. They will continue to be required at all medical establishments and on all public transport (including taxis and Ubers) and in all stations, airports, and transport interchanges.

We announced in last week’s News Digest that France had added 29 new countries to its green list for travel. This week, a further 23 countries have been added to the list, including Brazil and the United States. This is good news for travellers from the US, meaning that there are few restrictions on travel and no limitations at all for vaccinated travellers.

For the time being, the UK and Australia remain on the Orange list.

See the full list and map here.

If you live in France, you will surely have noticed the soaring gas prices over the recent week, with prices climbing over €2 per litre in some areas. Pressure has been on the French government to address the climbing prices, and on Saturday (March 12th), French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the implementation of a 15 cent per litre reduction on petrol and diesel prices from April 1st. This will remain in place for four months, with the state reimbursing petrol station owners to make up the difference.

The French government is also set to present a multi-phase “economic and social resilience plan” this week in an effort to address the economic effect of the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russia. Rising global gas prices are just the start, with worries over rising food prices and the impact on French and EU businesses affected by both the sanctions on Russia and the rising cost of fuel.

The next FrenchEntrée webinar is taking place on Thursday 31st March at 10am GMT, when I’ll be joined by an expert panel including FrenchEntrée Property Consultant Fiona Watton, Currency Exchange Specialist Mar Bonin-Palmer from Moneycorp, and International Legal and Tax Advisor Dan Harris from Stone King.

They will be offering their top tips and advice for Buying in France in 2022, and answering all your frequently asked questions on buying French property and moving to France. If you have a question or subject that you’d love for our experts to address in this webinar, why not let us know in advance? You can send your questions to us at [email protected]

Don’t forget to register for the free webinar, too, which you can do here!