What changes about life in France in April 2021
April could bring tighter Covid restrictions, but also ushers in warmer weather, Easter holidays and some other good news.
Easter holidays
First, some good news. April 5th is Easter Monday and a public holiday in France. That means most people get the day off and schools across the country are closed.
It’s the second public holiday in 2021 so far - a year that proved to be a particularly bad one when it comes to jours fériés (public holidays). Here’s why.
Schools take Easter holidays at different times depending on their zone.
Zone A – Saturday, April 10th to Monday, April 26th
Zone B – Saturday, April 24th to Monday, May 10th
Zone C – Saturday, April 17th to Monday, May 3rd
READ ALSO: Is there any kind of logic behind France’s school holiday zones?
As the French government has banned inter-regional travel between the areas on 'lockdown light', roads will likely be less busy than usual around Easter.
READ ALSO: Easter holidays in France – what are the rules and the government’s advice?
New Covid restrictions?
Nineteen départements in France are already on a 'lockdown light', but the government is considering tightening the rules as Covid rates continue to climb and hospitals in hard-hit areas, such the Paris region, warn that their capacities have reached their limits.
REVEALED: Just how bad is the third Covid wave hitting France compared to previous spikes?
Here's a look at what France can expect.
More vaccine centres set to open
The French Covid vaccine programme has sped up the past few weeks and France now vaccinates 400,000 people a day, seven days a week. The government has promised to further increase this pace by opening 38 vaccinodromes (mass vaccination centres) across the country, including the Stade de France in Paris which will be open for vaccinations from April 6th.
READ ALSO
- France to open ‘vaccine dromes’ as anti-Covid jabs extended to all over-70s
- When will I be eligible for the Covid vaccine in France?
Household gas gets cheaper
Gas prices will drop by 4.1 percent on April 1st, according to the national Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE). This is the first decline in months, as gas has been getting pricier in France since August.
The drop will be 1.2 percent for households using gas for cooking, 2.5 percent for those using it for both cooking and heating and 4.3 percent for those only using gas for heating.
It will get easier to refuse cookies
Internet cookies, that is. By April 1st, all French websites must have aligned themselves to the new rules issued by the National Commission on Information and Liberties (CNIL), which aim to increase transparency of online data gathering.
When you enter a website, you generally have to accept or refuse browser "cookies", which keep track of your visits and activities. Your computer stores it in a file inside your web browser, however they are more useful to the companies behind the website than they are to you.
Internet cookies gather data for a range of different purposes: some are essential to ensure that the website works - such as remembering the items you want to purchase - while others are only there to gather data for targeted advertising.
CNIL wants to make it easier for users to decline cookies. Whereas a refusal now requires clicking through several steps to find the no-button, websites will from April 1st have to make it just as easy to decline cookies as to accept them. CNIL also demand that websites spell out what the cookies do before visitors click accept.
Winter break
The trêve hivernale - the winter truce during which tenants in rent arrears cannot be evicted - usually ends on April 1st. However this year, in recognition of the financial difficulties that the pandemic has brought to many, it has been extended until June 1st.
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Easter holidays
First, some good news. April 5th is Easter Monday and a public holiday in France. That means most people get the day off and schools across the country are closed.
It’s the second public holiday in 2021 so far - a year that proved to be a particularly bad one when it comes to jours fériés (public holidays). Here’s why.
Schools take Easter holidays at different times depending on their zone.
Zone A – Saturday, April 10th to Monday, April 26th
Zone B – Saturday, April 24th to Monday, May 10th
Zone C – Saturday, April 17th to Monday, May 3rd
READ ALSO: Is there any kind of logic behind France’s school holiday zones?
As the French government has banned inter-regional travel between the areas on 'lockdown light', roads will likely be less busy than usual around Easter.
READ ALSO: Easter holidays in France – what are the rules and the government’s advice?
New Covid restrictions?
Nineteen départements in France are already on a 'lockdown light', but the government is considering tightening the rules as Covid rates continue to climb and hospitals in hard-hit areas, such the Paris region, warn that their capacities have reached their limits.
REVEALED: Just how bad is the third Covid wave hitting France compared to previous spikes?
Here's a look at what France can expect.
More vaccine centres set to open
The French Covid vaccine programme has sped up the past few weeks and France now vaccinates 400,000 people a day, seven days a week. The government has promised to further increase this pace by opening 38 vaccinodromes (mass vaccination centres) across the country, including the Stade de France in Paris which will be open for vaccinations from April 6th.
READ ALSO
- France to open ‘vaccine dromes’ as anti-Covid jabs extended to all over-70s
- When will I be eligible for the Covid vaccine in France?
Household gas gets cheaper
Gas prices will drop by 4.1 percent on April 1st, according to the national Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE). This is the first decline in months, as gas has been getting pricier in France since August.
The drop will be 1.2 percent for households using gas for cooking, 2.5 percent for those using it for both cooking and heating and 4.3 percent for those only using gas for heating.
It will get easier to refuse cookies
Internet cookies, that is. By April 1st, all French websites must have aligned themselves to the new rules issued by the National Commission on Information and Liberties (CNIL), which aim to increase transparency of online data gathering.
When you enter a website, you generally have to accept or refuse browser "cookies", which keep track of your visits and activities. Your computer stores it in a file inside your web browser, however they are more useful to the companies behind the website than they are to you.
Internet cookies gather data for a range of different purposes: some are essential to ensure that the website works - such as remembering the items you want to purchase - while others are only there to gather data for targeted advertising.
CNIL wants to make it easier for users to decline cookies. Whereas a refusal now requires clicking through several steps to find the no-button, websites will from April 1st have to make it just as easy to decline cookies as to accept them. CNIL also demand that websites spell out what the cookies do before visitors click accept.
Winter break
The trêve hivernale - the winter truce during which tenants in rent arrears cannot be evicted - usually ends on April 1st. However this year, in recognition of the financial difficulties that the pandemic has brought to many, it has been extended until June 1st.
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