A bill that will make it easier to open bars in rural areas has been overwhelmingly supported by MPs – and now awaits approval from the Senate.
It would allow bars to obtain a ‘type-4’ licence to open in towns or villages of fewer than 3,500 people with the aim of encouraging socialising, decreasing isolation and boosting local economies.
The licence allows bars to sell all types of alcohol, including spirits with an alcohol content of more than 18%. Local mayors would be able to approve or deny a licence request.
The proposal received strong support in the Assemblée nationale, with 156 MPs voting for it and just two against. It will now go to the Senate for approval. If granted, it could be passed this summer.
The current law prohibits the opening of any new ‘type-4’’ establishments. Owners have to wait to acquire a licence from another bar that is closing. This makes these licences relatively rare and expensive.
“Opening a café in a rural area is often an obstacle course,” said the MP behind the bill, centrist Guillaume Kasbarian of Eure-et-Loir. He called the current law “old and obsolete”.
Rejuvenating France's rural nightlife
The aim is to increase socialisingLe Bärr Nomade
The former civil service minister said the bill would help “bring life back into villages”, as well as provide “essential” economic benefits. Café-bars, he said, were an integral part of “the art of French living”.
The number of rural bars has plummeted in recent decades, from over 200,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 35,000 in 2020.
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“This bill could be really beneficial for rural areas of France, without a doubt,” said Florent Chapelain, who converted an old horsebox into a travelling bar – Le Bärr Nomade – in response to the lack of bricks-and-mortar bars in his region of Alsace.
It travels to villages around his home town of Barr, which do not have their own café-bars, serving local beers and wines.
Travelling bar, Le Bärr NomadeLe Bärr Nomade
“There is a real lack of cafés and bars in rural areas of France, at least in Alsace. We created Bärr Nomade to meet a demand: a place for socialising in our villages. And what better way than a drinking establishment?”
A public safety issue
However, opponents of the bill have said it could cause a rise in alcohol consumption in areas with few social services to help addicts.
“It does not meet the real needs of rural populations and poses a real risk to public health,” said Association Addictions France, which in a blog post warned increased alcohol consumption could lead to “considerable health and social consequences”.
It added that addiction was just as prevalent in rural areas but more difficult to treat because of a “lack of appropriate facilities and isolation”.
It also said the new bill could pose a public safety issue, with lack of public transport meaning many people in rural areas have no safe way to get home and may decide to drive under the influence of alcohol.
It said alcohol is involved in 30% of fatal road accidents.
