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Lawmakers in France have overwhelmingly backed a bill making it easier to open bars in villages – a move aimed at reviving social life in small rural communities.<\/p>\n
In a 156-2 vote on Monday, MPs decided to loosen strict restrictions on new bar permits to sell alcohol. The bill still needs a Senate approval to become law.<\/p>\n
Supporters say the change is needed to better cement social ties and reduce isolation – but critics warn of health risks through alcoholism.<\/p>\n
France has seen a sharp fall from about 200,000 bars and caf\u00e9s serving alcohol in the 1960 to some 36,000 by 2015. Most of the closures were in rural areas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In France, a type-4 alcohol licence is required by law to open a bar selling alcoholic drinks, including hard spirits with more than 18% alcohol.<\/p>\n
Currently, no new such permits can be granted, and those planning to open a bar must wait until an existing drinking spot closes to acquire its licence.<\/p>\n
The new legislation would allow prospective bar managers in communities with fewer than 3,500 people and without a bar to request a brand-new permit without such a wait.<\/p>\n
Local mayors would have the final say on whether to approve or deny such requests. <\/p>\n
Lawmaker Guillaume Kasbarian said “an old and obsolete legal framework” should be replaced, the AFP news agency reported.<\/p>\n
It also quoted Fabien Di Filippo, another French MP, who described bars as “above all, places for people to come together in very rural areas and in a society where people have a tendency to close in on themselves”.<\/p>\n
The French health ministry says that each year about 49,000 deaths in the country are caused by alcohol consumption, describing this as a “major public health issue”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n