This French Life

Number of property sales in Paris falls 19%

THE number of older properties sold in Paris between June and August 2012 fell by 19%, when compared to the same time last year.

According to figures from the Chambre des Notaires, in Paris, there were 35,000 sales, with both apartments (-18%) and houses (-20%) seeing falls in numbers sold.

Notaires said that the decline in sales had continued into September, although prices have not seen similar falls.

The current sale price is around €8,440 per square metre, with projections based on pre-sale contracts showing prices stabilising to around €8,500 per square metre by the end of the year.

French president warns Google over revenue row

French President Francois Hollande called Monday on Google to come to a deal over an advertising revenue row, warning that if necessary, a bill could be adopted to force Internet search engines to pay for media content.

Hollande's remarks came following a meeting with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, which has said it would exclude French media sites from its search results if France were to adopt the bill requiring search engines to pay to link to news websites.

via www.expatica.com

French tax office make 225 requests to HMRC

THE French tax authorities made the second highest number of requests for information from their UK counterparts in the HMRC.

France lodged 225 requests in 2011 to the UK tax authorities, behind Norway with 577, as the grip tightens around those deemed to be very high earners and seen as evading taxes.

The study by law firm Pinsent Masons, found that the number of requests for information about taxpayers received by the UK government from overseas tax authorities rose by 18% in the last year.

And the findings come at a time when news that the French government would introduce a 75% tax rate on those earning more than a million euros a year, was greeted by UK prime minister David Cameron with the phrase that he would 'roll out the red carpet' to those leaving France.

Phil Berwick, director at Pinsent Masons, said: "The rise in international requests for information about taxpayers shows that tax authorities around the world are responding to pressure from their governments to maximise their tax revenues. It is not just HMRC that is piling the pressure on taxpayers."

Empty buildings could be opened to homeless

WITH the arrival of the cold weather, housing minister Cécile Duflot has put forward the idea of requisitioning empty buildings to help the homeless.

Government powers can be extended to enable to buildings to be opened and the move comes after the death of a homeless man on the streets of Paris over the weekend.

Cécile Duflot also said that she would look at ways in which empty state buildings could be used to provide shelter, especially as associations helping the homeless say the numbers calling on their support has increased.

France is also a few days away from the introduction of the annual trêve hivernale, which protects those from renting a home from being evicted over the winter months.

A blast of winter chill across France

A COLD winter blast from the north across much of France has shaken off any lingering summer memories and seen heavy snow, rain and winds.

Night time temperatures are expected to be below freezing across eastern France, and over the weekend 15cm of snow fell on the lower reaches of the Alps, and a ferry was pinned to the harbour wall in Marseille after strong winds buffeted the region.

Here in the Dordogne the light of the moon shimmered on the frosty fields early in the morning, but once the sun had risen its warm rays began to sparkle on the melting chill.

The last of the cranes headed south over the weekend, their melancholic cry echoing across the valley, and with the last of the chestnuts being gathered I'm sure I saw a flash of red as a robin dodged under the laurel bush.

A Liste Rouge to protect rare French flowers

URBAN sprawl, pollution and agricultural techniques are posing a risk to more than 500 plant species in France, so much so that a Liste Rouge has been put together.

The study by a number of organisations including Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle says that the list will enable them to focus on the plants most at risk.

Plants that require wetlands are being lost due to areas being drained, but other plants are also being threatened due to the lack of land management, for example brush will crowd out smaller varieties.

The organisations say that some plants are only found in France and should they be lost they will be lost to the world.

Management of areas will be introduced, as well as the use of seed banks, to try and protect the rarest flowers.

SayOuiToFrance hopes to attract investment

Did You Know? Invest in France
IN an attempt to draw more investment to France the government has launched the Say Oui to France website at an event in the US.

The minister for the digital economy, Fleur Pellerin, gave a speech at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s (MIT) 2012 EmTech Conference, saying that France supported research and development, and backed this belief up with a short video highlighting facts and figures.

Some questioned just how effective the campaign would be, especially in supporting smaller businesses and with new legislation set to be introduced on capital gains and higher social charges you do wonder just how supportive the government will be.

EU lawmakers rally to protect Erasmus budget

The European Commission says Erasmus will not run out of money before the end of 2012. But if the shortfall in the 2012 EU budget is not resolved, it says funds from the 2013 budget will have to be used to cover the gap.

"Faced with the prospect of a continuing shortage of funds, universities and colleges are likely either to reduce the number of places they make available for the second semester of the 2012-2013 year, or to reduce the level of grants," the Commission warns.

This, it adds, "is likely to mean that students from more disadvantaged backgrounds will not able to take part in the scheme" during that year.

via www.euractiv.com

News stops: Peugeot gets state backing

A LOOK over some of the news headlines from France.

France offers Peugeot state rescue
French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen says the government is offering it up to 7 billion euro (£5.6 billion) in financial guarantees, as the ailing car maker announced a new slump in sales.

Tobin-style tax gets green light from European commission
Biggest eurozone economies to carry out experiment to show whether financial transactions levy can aid responsible trading.

Eurotunnel says post-Olympics boost to continue into 2013
Passenger and commercial shuttle service traffic was up 16% over summer – offsetting a slight drop in Eurostar numbers.

Too few convictions in France for corruption says OECD
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday that France was not doing enough to weed out corruption in business.

France slips down ease of doing business table

THE ease of doing business in France has deteriorated in the past year, according to a study from the World Bank.

Its Doing Business 2013 report shows that France has slipped from 32nd position to 34th, putting it behind the UK, Germany and other European nations.

Top of the chart was Singapore, with Hong Kong and New Zealand making up the top three and the report stressed that a clear and consistent tax and regulatory regime can help economic growth but rejected the idea that massive deregulation was the way forward.

"The economies that rank highest on the ease of doing business are not those where there is no regulation – but those where governments have managed to create rules that facilitate interactions in the marketplace without needlessly hindering the development of the private sector," it said.

"In essence, it is about smart business regulations, not necessarily fewer regulations."

In recent weeks the French government has had to back down from changes to the tax regime on entrepreneurs, as well as dampen fears about the auto-entrepreneur scheme.

And with a complex system of bureaucracy and costs for French businesses to face when launching new products, opening premises or taking on extra staff, the Doing Business 2013 report suggests it is these areas that should be tackled first.