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Month: March 2023

France considers stronger regulations for e-scooters

by: Stephanie Horsman
31/03/2023
e-scooter france

A new proposal from the French government on how to better regulate the use of electric scooters has put safety concerns in the spotlight. 

Electric or e-scooters are in the news a lot these days. On the one hand, they are being touted as an environmentally sound way to get around, a new tool in the clean mobility arsenal to be applauded. On the other, they have been vilified as a dangerous product, a reputation made worse by a growing number of electric scooter related incidents, some fatal.   

Though certain regulations have been implemented, they have been scattered at best, so French Minister for Transport Clément Beaune is now taking matters in hand and presented a national plan for the regulation of electric scooters on 29th March.  

TOO MANY ACCIDENTS 

The number of serious accidents involving users of motorised personal transport equipment (EDPM) went up by 38% between 2021 and 2022, according to government reports, and with more than 2.5 million people regularly opting for e-scooters as transport in France, there are bound to be a few bad apples who don’t follow basic rules of civility and safety.  

Unfortunate incidents are aplenty and last June in Nice, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy was killed on the Promenade des Anglais by a person driving an electric scooter at high speed. 

PREVENTION 

To combat this, the government scheme is taking a three-prong approach. The first objective is to “protect, deter and avoid dangerous behaviour” by increasing the minimum age of drivers to 14 and raising fines from €35 to €135 for riding illegally or in prohibited lanes and spaces.  

The government also wants to build awareness through information collection. To this end, a National Micromobility Observatory will be created, which will produce data on the use of electric scooters in France, their accident rates and their environmental impacts.  

Finally, they will look to self-service e-scooter providers to remind customers that, as users of the roads, they have obligations to be in compliance of the French highway codes and to practice safety when driving.  

 

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Photo source: Vlad B for Unsplash

  

Nice Airport to adopt Skydrop self-service baggage terminals

by: Stephanie Horsman
31/03/2023
skydrop nice

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport will soon implement the Skydrop self-service baggage drop system to enhance and streamline passenger experiences.  

The France-based self-service solution company Easier has announced it will soon be installing do-it-yourself baggage drops at the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. It is the company’s second collaboration with the travel hub, following the instatement of a series of self-service check-in kiosks.  

Easier is well-established as a leader for its self-service systems, which are widely used in not only airports, but in train terminals and in public institutions, such as post offices and administrative centres.   

Its networks can be found worldwide, in places such as New York’s Newark Airport, Stockholm’s subway system, Casablanca Airport, Santiago de Chile’s underground station and the Paris Montparnasse train station, and are used by an average of 90 million people each day.  

 

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Photo source: Easier

Planes, public transport and schools to be hit by 6th April strike

by: Cassandra Tanti
31/03/2023

France’s unions are planning another round of strikes on Thursday 6th April, with the usual sectors due to bear the brunt.

The country’s eight largest unions are calling for workers to again walk out in sectors including aviation, public transport and schools, denouncing the “lack of response from the government to increasing tensions”.

“The inter-union calls on the millions of workers, young people and retirees to continue to mobilise,” reads a joint statement.

Full details of the Thursday 6th April strike, the 11th of its kind, are not likely to be revealed before Tuesday 4th April.

Ahead of Thursday’s strike, France’s civil aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has asked airlines to cancel scores of flights at French airports on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd April due to strike action by air traffic controllers.

The DGAC also encouraged those with travel plans to consider postponing their journey.

French civil aviation authorities asked airlines to cancel 20 percent of flights operating out of the Toulouse and Bordeaux airports on Saturday.

On Sunday, the DGAC requested that 25 percent of flights at Paris-Orly airport, and 20 percent of flights at the Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes airports, be cancelled.

Travellers should check with their airline to see whether their flight is still scheduled, particularly prior to leaving for the airport.

 

Photo by Monaco Life

 

 

Football: AS Monaco strengthen local ties through Ünseme programme

by: Luke Entwistle
31/03/2023

In the presence of local mayors and amateur sports clubs, AS Monaco launched the Ünseme programme on Wednesday, strengthening ties throughout the region.

Beausoleil, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Cap d’Ail, La Turbie, Èze, Peille and Dolceacqua were the first town halls to become members of the Ünseme, programme, which in Monégasque means “together.”

The mayors of the villages, as well as three amateur sports associations, AS Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, US Cap d’Ail, and US Dolceacqua, gathered at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday for a breakfast. During the visit, they exchanged with the club’s new Director General, Ben Lambrecht, as well as Michel Aubéry, the president of the AS Monaco association. They were also given a tour of the stadium, which offered them an exclusive visit to the Monaco dressing room.

“We’re not alone here in Monaco.”

Speaking to the media for the first time since his arrival in December, Lambrecht voiced his support for the new project, which will intensify the collaboration between the club and the surrounding community.

“We’re not alone here. We’re in Monaco, but there are all the communes around it that form part of AS Monaco’s heritage. So to have good relationships is very important because there are a lot of synergies,” he said. 

The Belgian Director General, who replaced Jean-Emmanuel De Witt, continued, “It’s about creating experiences for these youngsters, be them those that go out on the pitch with the players, or those that are training, or those that are spectators in the stadium. Those are things that we can offer. We’ve learnt that a supporter becomes a supporter of a football team before the age of eight.” 

Indeed, many of the mayors in attendance at the event recounted their childhood memories of watching Les Monégasques, which have stayed with them, making Wednesday’s collaboration a “proud” moment.

“When I think of AS Monaco, I think about my childhood. I have been a supporter since a very young age,” said Xavier Beck, the mayor of Cap d’Ail. The programme will allow the younger generation to create similar memories through different experiences, facilitated by a rapprochement between the club, and its surroundings.

“This initiative will allow us to offer our children, at school and at leisure centres, to access the matches more easily and in the best conditions possible,” he added.

An Italian connection

Beyond the Monégasque border, but also beyond the French border, the Principality club have strengthened ties with their Italian fans. The small Italian village of Dolceacqua, which will become officially partnered with Monaco later this year, is a historical hotbed of Monaco fervour.

“For the past year, we’ve been attending matches at the Louis II regularly with buses filled with around 50 kids going to support AS Monaco. You mustn’t forget as well that the Italian AS Monaco Supporters Club was born in Dolceacqua in the 1970s, so we’re very happy that this initiative will allow us to continue this beautiful story,” said Pasqualino Ricetti, President of US Dolceacqua.

“Such projects only survive when they are part of a bigger strategy.”

Monaco have adopted a strategy of mobilising youth support of late. As well as the Ünseme programme, the club also launched the ‘Kids Tour’ in 2022, which sees the club, and sometimes its players, travel to local towns and villages to provide entertainment and also facilitate journeys to the stadium for the games themselves.

The Munegu Family stand also returned for the current 2022/23 season following its closure during the pandemic, and this has allowed families and young kids to attend Ligue 1 matches at a reasonable price.

“I think that such projects only survive when they are part of a bigger strategy. This programme must form a part of an integral strategy, which it will,” Lambrecht told Monaco Life.

 

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Photo by AS Monaco

The Monaco Life Ski Report

by: Luke Entwistle
30/03/2023

As we head into April, the skiing season is drawing to an end. In Monaco Life’s last Ski Report of the season, we bring you the conditions across the region.

Isola 2000 – There are currently 36 ski slopes and 15 ski lifts open in Isola 2000. Despite the end of the skiing season appearing on the horizon, there is a chance of further snowfall next week. It will be cloudy with sunny spells throughout the weekend.

Auron – There are currently 21 ski pistes and 11 ski lifts open at the resort, as levels of snow decrease. There will be some strong winds, perhaps touching 45 km/h on Saturday.

Valberg – Due to the lack of snow, Valberg has now closed for the season.

Limone Piemonte – The Italian resort has currently closed all lifts and pistes, but they will reopen again this weekend before the end of the season. Temperatures are also expected to be high relative to French resorts, with highs of 13°C. Passage through the Roya valley currently isn’t possible. The journey from Monaco is currently approximately three hours by car, although the train line is in operation.

Gréolières-les-Neiges – This popular family resort has closed its slopes for the winter season.

Val d’Allos – The resort, which combines Allos, Seigneus and La Foux d’Allos as well as access to Pra-Loup, is winding down, with 12 out of its 27 lifts in operation and 22 out of 64 pistes welcoming skiers, snowboarders and the rest. Consistent with conditions throughout the region, there will be a mixture of cloudy and sunny skies. Despite entering into April, there is still up to 100cm of snow at higher level.

 

Note: Snow tyres or other suitable equipment must be used on the roads up to the ski resorts.

 

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Photo by Fun Radio Côte d’Azur/Facebook

Therapeutic cannabis usage extended for another year in France

by: Stephanie Horsman
30/03/2023
therapeutic cannabis france

A trial programme authorising the use of therapeutic cannabis in France has been given an additional year, giving relief to upwards of 3,000 patients suffering with conditions that traditional medicine hasn’t been able to fix.   

Cannabis for therapeutic and treatment purposes has become largely accepted by the medical community as well as governments around the world. France is no exception, and since a law authorising its use as part of an experimental programme was launched in October 2020, it has been a lifesaver for patients suffering from a variety of illnesses who have found no relief from other types of medicines.  

The trial was set to end on 25th March of this year, but has been extended until 2024, giving doctors, researchers and pharmacists more time to study the effects, benefits and drawbacks of usage. So far, the data has been overwhelmingly positive. 

TIGHT CONTROLS FOR SPECIFIC SITUATIONS 

Prescriptions for medical marijuana are not handed out on the whim. They are only given “in the event of insufficient relief or poor tolerance of accessible therapies, whether medicinal or not”, reads the French government’s public service website. Prescriptions are not available to all doctors either, just those involved in the programme.  

Furthermore, doctors can only prescribe cannabis in certain situations, such as if the person has drug-resistant epilepsy, painful spasticity stemming from multiple sclerosis or other central nervous system disorders, refractory neuropathic pain, certain symptoms related to cancer and cancer treatments, and as palliative pain relief.  

This is exasperating for patients who would like, but are unable to qualify for the experiment, and who must endure pain whilst they are given other pain medications that have no effect. It is only as a last resort that cannabis is offered, and many would like to see this change.  

Additionally, there are somewhere between 700,000 and two million patients who could qualify based on the approved conditions, but aren’t given the option.  

A NEW INDUSTRY? 

Growing marijuana is a whole other business, with it being exclusive to establishments authorised by the French Health Agency (ANSM) to manufacture, import and distribute active substances, including, since 1st March 2022, the growing and production of the drug. Even then, the red tape is pretty strict, with guidelines being specific and narrow.  

This may change soon as the Ministry of Health is finalising a decree that may mean France could see the start of a cannabis industry sprouting up. The easing of administrative hassles could open the door to budding entrepreneurs looking to cultivate the plant in a legal way and thus making it more accessible to more patients.  

  

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Photo source: Budding on Unsplash