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ECB's Villeroy says France can limit budget deficit to 5.4%

ECB's Villeroy says France can limit budget deficit to 5.4%

Reutersa day ago

PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - France's budget deficit will be 5.4% in 2025, in line with the Bank of France's target, even though the Bank has lowered the growth outlook for this year and the two following years, its head told franceinfo on Thursday.
Governor François Villeroy de Galhau is also a member of the European Central Bank.
After expanding 1.1% last year, the euro zone's second-biggest economy is set to grow only 0.6% this year, the Bank of France forecast on Wednesday, revising its estimate down from 0.7% projected three months ago.

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French restaurant leaves customers fuming as it introduces fines for this very common dining mistake - so are you guilty of it?
French restaurant leaves customers fuming as it introduces fines for this very common dining mistake - so are you guilty of it?

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

French restaurant leaves customers fuming as it introduces fines for this very common dining mistake - so are you guilty of it?

A restaurant owner in France has left customers seething after he introduced a new fine to 'make people responsible' for a common dining habit many have likely been guilty of. Olivier Vincent, chef and manager of at L'îlot, a 20-seat eatery in Amboise, had grown increasingly frustrated with patrons constantly arriving with parties that either exceeded or fell short of the number of people they had booked for. Disgruntled by what he described as a 'weekly' problem, the chef announced that those showing up with a different-sized group to their reservation would be fined. In a post shared to Facebook last week, he stated that those who don't abide by the rule would be charged €15 (£12.75) per head. On Wednesday, he wrote: 'The restaurant L'îlot announces a change. From now on, if you do not come with the number of guests for which you reserved, you will be charged 15 euros per missing or additional person. Thank you for your understanding.' 'We're here because we need to make people responsible,' he lamented. Under the new rules, a party of nine with two no-shows would face a €30 surcharge in addition to the bill for their food and drink. According to the chef, the issue had been ongoing, but reached its final straw after one customer exchanged several messages trying to change the booking, reported the French paper, ici. 'After about ten emails with one person, she told us there would be eight, then nine, and finally, they arrived at seven without warning, without apology,' Olivier told the outlet. Expressing his frustration, Vincent emphasised the need to have the correct numbers on a booking, insisting customers who have 'their phones on them 24/7' only need to 'call to say if we will be less, or more, or that we are not coming'. 'If we are here, it is to work. It is not to have tables, not to have customers. We organise ourselves so that everything is serene. We have staff,' he continued. 'We work with fresh products. We do not pay employees and suppliers with Monopoly tickets. My restaurant is a business.' The venue, described on Google as serving 'inventive gourmet plates' in a 'down-to-earth restaurant with an open kitchen', has a respectable 4.7 stars on review sites. Customers have praised the 'intimate' setting, a feature that Vincent emphasised is one of the reasons it must keep strictly to it's booking numbers. Responding to the Facebook post, which was viewed more than 27,000 times in the first 24 hours, several expressed their irritation at the new rules. A translated response from one read: 'A bit of a limiting business practice if there are only one or two people missing from a large table. Emergencies exist. Responding to the Facebook post, which was viewed more than 27,000 times in the first 24 hours, several expressed their irritation at the new rules 'You're not going to get great publicity for yourself. Even if abuses exist, you are going a bit far. Imagine an on-call doctor who can't join their family for dinner, or someone who has a family emergency.' A second furiously wrote: 'A last-minute unforeseen event... Getting left outside the restaurant (it's happened to me before)... Well, I might as well go somewhere else then. It seems pretty counterproductive to me.' 'Keep it up, restaurateurs in soon your customers just won't come why go to a restaurant in France to pay an exorbitant price for something that isn't good,' another said. Though some keenly agreed that it was a matter of 'respect' to call restaurants to let them know of a changed booking. 'I totally agree with you! It takes 2 minutes to notify someone of a change,' one wrote, while another agreed, saying people weren't aware of the hassle for the chef who prepares the meals.' It is common for restaurants in France to charge patrons who fail to arrive for their bookings at all, but l'Îlot is among the first to fine for unannounced changes to party size. MailOnline has reached out to L'îlot for comment.

EU's nuclear energy plans require 241 billion euro investment, draft shows
EU's nuclear energy plans require 241 billion euro investment, draft shows

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

EU's nuclear energy plans require 241 billion euro investment, draft shows

BRUSSELS, June 13 (Reuters) - European Union countries' plans to expand nuclear energy will require 241 billion euros ($278 billion) in investments, and new funding instruments to make these huge costs less risky for private investors, the European Commission said on Friday. EU countries have set out plans to expand their nuclear power capacity to 109 gigawatts by 2050, up from 98 GW today, the Commission said in a draft analysis of investment needs for the sector, due to be published on Friday. Those plans would require investments of 205 billion euros in new nuclear power plants, plus 36 billion euros to extend the lifespan of existing reactors, including both public and private money, the draft said. Nuclear power generated around 24% of the EU's electricity last year. With recent nuclear projects in Europe running over budget and facing long delays, the Commission said more financial instruments were needed to attract private investors put off by these risks and huge upfront costs. A five-year delay to planned new projects would add an extra 45 billion euros to the estimated cost of them by 2050, it said. "A combination of diverse sources of financing complemented by de-risking instruments may be the response," the Commission said. The draft document was first reported by Bloomberg News. EU countries have long disagreed over whether to promote nuclear power to achieve CO2 emissions targets. At the centre of the debate are France, which relies on nuclear power as its top electricity source, and Germany, which under previous governments opposed it. As a result, EU energy policies have typically not singled out nuclear with incentives or targets, and the EU budget does not support the building of new nuclear power plants. The draft document said the Commission and the European Investment Bank will launch a 500-million-euro pilot programme of power purchase agreements, for which nuclear projects will be eligible. Twelve of the EU's 27 member countries currently have nuclear reactors, with France holding by far the biggest fleet. Slovakia and Hungary have new reactors under construction, while countries including Poland hope to build their first plants. ($1 = 0.8666 euros)

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