IFP Newsletter

Issue 003: 19th December 2006

Welcome to the Christmas issue of the IFP Newsletter. Inside you will find more news, information and advice about buying property and living in France.

If you would like to make any comments on the articles, or offer general feedback on the newsletter, please do so on our Forum.

France Closed for Christmas

With Christmas Eve falling this year on a Sunday, it has opened the re-occurring debate about restrictive Sunday opening laws in France.

The law authorises shops to open five days a year on a Sunday, but as many choose to do so in the run up to Xmas and during the winter and summer sales, this year they are going to be forced to stay closed Xmas and New Year’s Eve, simply because they have used up their Sunday opening allowance.

France Closed for Christmas

French Also on the Move

A recent study claims that up to 7 million people currently living in towns and cities of France want to relocate to the countryside.

Nearly half of those interviewed by IPOS, the French pollster, expressed a desire to do so within the next few years.

French Also on the Move

Huge Prescription Fraud Uncovered

A major scandal has emerged in France concerning the trafficking of prescription drugs, in which dozens of doctors appear to be implicated.

It is believed that the health service may have been defrauded by up to €20 million in a single year, from ‘patients’ who obtained prescription drugs from a doctors and then resold them on the Asian and African markets.

Huge Prescription Fraud Uncovered

French Savings Accounts

We all know that spending money is much better fun than saving it, but, if you relocate to France on a small income and a pile of capital, then you are going to need to find somewhere to earn interest on your cash.

One very simple step you ought to take is to open one or more of the government controlled savings accounts in France, which offer relief on tax and social security contributions.

French Savings Accounts

France Rolls Out 'Competitor' to BBC and CNN

France has launched a new 24-hour television news channel to compete with the BBC and CNN, but questions remain about just how it will fare.

France 24 is the brainchild of President Jacques Chirac, following his exasperation with coverage of French opposition to the war in Iraq by CNN and the BBC.

France 24

Gascony Wines ‘Healthiest’ in the World

Wines from the Gascony area of Gers in South West France are the healthiest in the world, according to a study published in the scientific journal ‘Nature’.

The beneficial effects of moderate drinking of wine (especially red wine) have been known for many years, but what intrigued the researchers, was to determine whether different wines varied in their impact.

Gascony Wines Healthiest in the World