Urgent measures for return to lockdown in France

After declaring another public health state of emergency and imposing a curfew on certain areas of the country, the French President announced last night a number of measures at national level:

• A new national and general lockdown is announced, from Thursday at midnight and until 01 December at the earliest

• Adaptations will be possible in the French Overseas Departments and Territories.

• This lockdown will be slightly more flexible than the one implemented in March 2020 with 3 adaptations, as follows:

  • Public services, all schools and essential shops will remain open (but non-essential shops and facilities open to the public will be closed)
  • Remote work will be the standard to be applied. It must be implemented when possible. In some sectors, employees will be able to work onsite (construction, public works and agriculture)
  • Elderly people in retirement homes will be able to receive visits

• Prohibition of commuting and exceptions: individuals commuting to work will need a certificate from their employer justifying of the reason for the travel (e.g. to go to the workplace).

• Travel between regions will be prohibited but internal borders within the European area remain open

• Social measures for employees and companies:

  • Reinforced financial support measures for companies in difficulties (postponement of payment deadlines, loans guaranteed by the State, solidarity funds)
  • In protected sectors (tourism, hotels, cafés, restaurants, sport, culture, event management, air travel), increase of the grant paid to employers for employees under furlough or benefiting from long-term partial unemployment measures ("activité partielle de longue durée") will apply until the end of 2020
  • A new measure called "collective transition" should enable professional retraining for employees whose jobs are at risk

The details of the measures will be announced in the next few days (a press conference is scheduled this evening).