This week’s must-reads from The Local include budget plans to impose a minimum charge on US retirees in France for access to healthcare, as well as Christmas markets to visit this year, plus new flights to and from France in 2026.
French MPs referenced American retirees in an amendment to the 2026 draft social security budget.
The amendment – if it passes (and again, if the draft Budget itself passes) – would institute a minimum healthcare payment for those on the one-year ‘visitor’ visa, before they can sign up for the French public healthcare system.
The Local spoke with the MP behind the plan, who defended the proposal as “a question of fairness”.
It’s only fair Americans pay, says French MP behind healthcare fee plan
Foreigners in France can access a number of benefits.
From unemployment (chômage) to housing benefits, as well as student grants and discounted access to museums, here’s a look at what foreigners in France are eligible for, and what they are excluded from.
Benefits, grants and housing: What are foreigners in France eligible for?
Dozens of new flight routes to and from France will be launched in 2026. Here are the details, so you can start planning your next holiday.
New flights to and from France in 2026
A couple who rented out their French apartment on Airbnb have been ordered to pay €12,500 to their neighbours, even though there was no specific ban in the building’s regulations. It’s the latest in several stories we’ve run on the short-term letting platform, and we recently asked readers their views. Here’s what you said.
‘Turned our French village into a ghost town’: The verdict on Airbnb in France
From huge and world-famous to small, cute and traditional — it’s true that France has plenty of options for enjoying a Christmas market. Some of them start soon, so you’d better get planning.
The French Christmas markets you have to visit in 2025
It’s French literary award season, and here are the books the juries say belong on your ever-growing “To Read” list — plus one they overlooked but you shouldn’t.