President 'approves cut-price hunting licence'

President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to cut the cost of a hunting licence by more than €200, according to the head of the Fédération nationale des chasseurs.

The hunting lobby in France is pushing for an overhaul of rules around the pastime and met the president on Monday to discuss further changes.

"The head of state validated the national permit at €200," the federation's president, Willy Schraen, told BFMTV after the meeting: "There will be a follow-up of this project, we will have to discuss it, legislate (...) it will take a little time.

The current cost of a national permit is €447. Hunters can also apply for a departmental license for around €150 which restricts them to hunting in one department - but the federation argued that a single licence should allow holders to hunt anywhere in France.

There are an estimated 1.2million hunters in France and some 37,000 new licenses are obtained each year.

But hunters' groups claim many new licencees drop out because of the administrative burden and the length of time it takes to obtain a permit - which can be up to nine months.

The controversial subjects of rural policing and hunt quotas were also raised. Mr Schraen said that Mr Macron had approved the development of hunters' forest watch schemes.

Willy Schraen further said that the Fédération nationale des chasseurs "will fully respect what has been defined with the Head of State as (they) fully respect the quota requests that have been made on certain hunts in France."