17 changes you may have missed in France in August 2026
Includes lower VAT on heat pumps and aid for used EVs
Online stamps expiry date
Stamps bought online through La Poste’s Mon Timbre en Ligne service will have a six-month expiry date from September 16. The web service lets customers buy stamps, print them and use them for domestic and international letters and parcels.
La Poste says the change will ensure more reliable mail processing and create a simple rule. The expiration date will appear on the printed stamp and in the customer’s account.
Online stamps bought before September 16 will also be affected and must be used by March 16 next year.
Tax data warning
Hackers are known to have stolen data of 700,000 taxpayers in France from the tax service.
If you are concerned you should have been contacted by your tax office to inform you.
The authorities say the information would not be enough to allow criminals to access your account on impots.gouv.fr, however people should be on their guard for attempts to usurp their identity or phishing scams (eg. where fraudsters send texts, emails or make phone calls purporting to be from an official body or well-known firm).
Mayor targets barking dogs
A mayor in western France has introduced fines of up to €135 for owners whose dogs bark persistently, particularly at night.
Boivre-la-Vallée (Vienne) mayor Marie-Hélène Audebert issued a bylaw following complaints from residents. She said heatwaves had exacerbated the problem, with people sleeping with windows open.
Owners must take measures to prevent prolonged or repeated barking. The mayor said she wanted to raise awareness and encourage good neighbourly relations.
As of August 10, no fines had been issued and complaints had fallen. National law already allows €135 fines for neighbourhood noise disturbances of a persistent and repetitive kind.
Volvic bottles 100% recycled
Volvic has updated its bottles in France to use 100% recycled plastic, its first major bottle change since 1969.
Following a nearly €2million investment, all bottles are now made from recycled PET plastic granules.
They also use 15% less material than in 2018. Volvic says the changes will reduce its carbon footprint by up to 60%. The move follows controversy over previous recycling claims. In June, a Paris tribunal found Volvic guilty of misleading commercial practices over claims including “100% recycled” and “carbon neutral”. Owner Danone was ordered to pay €75,000 in damages and is to appeal against the ruling.
Heat pumps VAT reduction
Households installing a qualifying reversible air-to-air heat pump can benefit from VAT of 5.5%, down from 20%.
The housing ministry says this can save several hundred euros on installation. The pumps draw in air to heat homes in winter and cool them in summer.
To qualify, units must meet energy-efficiency requirements, comply with EU refrigerant rules, and support smart connectivity. Installed prices range from €2,000-€4,000 for mono-split units and €4,000-€15,000 for multi-split systems.
They can also qualify for the prime énergie, worth up to €975 for lower-income households.
New cold-calling laws
Householders should be receiving fewer cold-calls as France has swapped from an opt-out to an opt-in system.
Cold calling was formerly generally permitted (outside specific banned sectors such as renovations) but consumers could put themselves on a ‘Bloctel’ list to say they did not want calls. It no longer exists, as this is now the default.
Firms can only make marketing calls if people have clearly agreed in advance or the call relates to an existing contract.
Newspaper, magazine and periodical subscription sales are still allowed. The rules will not eliminate fraudulent calls from overseas. You can use apps such as Saracroche to identify and block suspicious calls and report abuse via Signal Conso or 33700.fr.
Eurostar rival gears up
Italian rail firm Trenitalia has ordered 10 new trains for a direct London-Paris service to rival Eurostar, which it plans to launch in 2029 with 10 daily round-trips. The trains are part of a €2billion order for 19 new Hitachi Rail ‘Frecciarossa’ sets. Ten will be dedicated to London-Paris, with nine serving existing routes from Paris to Lyon, Marseille and Milan.
Trenitalia is leading the race to become Eurostar’s first rival, ahead of Virgin Trains, which plans to launch in 2030 and which has been given permission in the UK to run up to 20 daily return trains.
Channel Tunnel operator Getlink aims to double tunnel services, with hopes that more operators could reduce prices.
Financial aid for used EVs
Households looking to lease or purchase a second-hand electric car can benefit from new financial aid.
Cars first registered in France between 2017 and 2023 are eligible through the certificats d’économies d’énergie (CEE) ‘polluter pays’ scheme that obliges energy suppliers to fund energy-saving and decarbonisation projects.
Dealerships will be in charge of obtaining the CEE: buyers do not need to do this themselves.
Household income levels do not affect the maximum amount the certificates can cover – aid is based on the vehicle.
Vehicles must be bought or leased through an authorised automotive professional, have at least 80% battery health – or meet minimum range requirements – and be kept or leased for at least three years.
Standard aid will be between €295 and €380 for an individual, with enhanced funding for certain home-care and personal service workers. The scheme runs from September 1 to 2030.
New AI motorway cameras
Motorists travelling between France and Spain might encounter new AI cameras designed to detect drivers using mobile phones or without seatbelts.
The technology has been trialled on Catalonia’s A-2 and AP-7 motorways, including the route between the French border and Barcelona.
Mobile trailer units used high-definition cameras and AI to identify safety violations.
The June and July pilot detected more than 8,500 cases of mobile phone use and 4,500 seatbelt violations, with more than 84% accuracy detecting phone use.
No fines were issued, as the operation tested the technology’s reliability.
Catalan authorities might incorporate the system into 2027-30 road safety plans.
Isère restores 90km/h limit
From January, Isère will restore the 90km/h speed limit on more than 3,000km of its roads, reversing a 2018 national reduction to 80km/h.
The department already restored 90km/h on 167km of roads in 2022.
It joins 52 departments that have partially or fully reversed the lower limit, citing lack of road safety improvements.
The new limit will not apply everywhere in the department: around 45km of roads will fall to 70km/h and 2km to 50km/h. As there is no official national map of changed roads, drivers should assume the limit remains 80km/h where no 90km/h sign is displayed.
Dog and cat sale sanctions
Pet shops can now be fined for selling dogs and cats or displaying live animals where they can be seen from the street.
The penalties, in force since August 5, set specific fines for breaking rules introduced in 2021 and 2024.
Selling or giving away a dog or cat in a pet shop can result in a fine of up to €1,500 per animal, rising to €3,000 for repeat offences.
Displaying any animal visible from a road or area open to public traffic can bring fines of up to €750 per animal. The rules aim to discourage rash pet purchases.
Shops can still host adoption events with foundations or associations.
Green light for Gatwick
Gatwick is set to increase capacity by around 100,000 flights a year after campaigners lost their final legal battle against its £2.2billion northern runway project.
The expansion will adapt the airport’s existing emergency runway, moving it 12m north so it can operate alongside the main runway for departures. The project could accommodate up to 80 million passengers annually.
Campaigners argued the government had not properly assessed the climate impact. The High Court rejected their challenge and the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal.
Gatwick says the project will create around 14,000 jobs.
Additional Gatwick-France flights are possible as a result, but are not confirmed.
NFL screening in October
France Télévisions will broadcast the first NFL match played on French soil, as the New Orleans Saints face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris.
The game takes place on October 25 at 14:30 at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France. Free-to-air France Télévisions will show it live, alongside subscription broadcaster beIN Sports, while L’Équipe will offer a free broadcast later that evening.
The NFL counts more than 14 million fans in France and expects the stadium to be full.
Following the match, the NFL plans to expand its presence in France to an office with a dedicated general manager.
Road signs protect lynx
France is to test whether road warning signs can help reduce collisions with endangered lynx, with a three-year trial beginning in the Haut-Jura this autumn.
The signs feature a lynx pictogram and will be installed from September on sections of the N5 and N57 national roads, as well as departmental roads in the Ain, Doubs and Jura.
The Jura massif is home to nearly 80% of France’s lynx population. The Eurasian lynx is classified as endangered on France’s national red list, and road collisions are its leading recorded cause of death.
Report Japanese scarab beetle sightings
Authorities have stepped up surveillance after fresh sightings of the invasive Japanese beetle Popillia japonica in Bas-Rhin, Alpes-Maritimes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
First detected in France in 2025, it can damage more than 300 plant species, particularly vineyards and orchards. No breeding population has yet been confirmed, but researchers warn its establishment might ultimately be inevitable.
Hundreds of traps have been deployed across high-risk regions, particularly near transport routes, airports and campsites, among other spots.
Sightings can be reported by mail to your regional prefecture or to the regional agriculture authority.
France among Eurozone countries with lowest electricity prices
France has some of the lowest electricity prices among the larger and wealthier Eurozone economies, including Germany and Belgium.
Figures from Eurostat show French consumers paid €0.2561/kWh (including taxes) in the second half of 2025, below the Eurozone average of €0.2999/kWh.
A main driver is the dominance of nuclear power, which accounts for roughly 70-75% of French electricity generation. This has helped insulate France from the swings in gas and coal prices that hit much of the rest of Europe, especially since the 2022 energy crisis.
In the UK, the average price for the same period was roughly €0.30/kWh. UK VAT on domestic energy is 5% – far lower than most EU countries (it is 20% in France), which partly explains why UK prices, while high, are not as inflated as in some EU countries.
The US average in this period was €0.152/kWh.
Water restrictions remain in place across France
As of August 21, 92 departments in mainland France and Corsica are enforcing water restrictions in at least some communes, including on filling swimming pools, watering lawns and washing cars.
There are four levels: vigilance, alerte, alerte renforcée and crise. At the highest (crise) level, restrictions are imposed on domestic, agricultural and public uses to maintain water for essential needs.
By August 21, 62 departments had reached the crise level. More than 40,000 people have seen tap water cuts, while supplies for around 550,000 residents were considered under strain in early August.
There are only four departments in which the highest warning is vigilance – no restrictions but caution requested over water use – and none without at least part of its territory under vigilance.
Restrictions can change daily – see the government’s online platform vigieau.gouv.fr.
