Inside France: Air conditioning wars, football focus and balloons
Breezy assurances
France's most recent heatwave has
sparked a furious political debate about air conditioning
- a facility that is not widespread in France, and is in fact actively resisted by a significant portion of the population.
Until recently there wasn't much discussion about this, simply because it wasn't needed in much of the country. But France's hotter summers and
longer and more intense heatwaves
mean that air conditioning has come to the forefront of the political discussion.
Advertisement
Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National - a party that is extremely reluctant to even talk about the climate crisis that is driving those warming temperatures, and in fact actively opposes renewable energy sources
like wind turbines
- has come with a 'grand plan for air conditioning'.
The debate that followed seems to me to be a neat illustration of the difficulty of combating the simplified rhetoric of the far-right.
Put simply, the RN position is: "It's hot. Let's have more air conditioning."
Meanwhile the position of the left and the centre is: "Yes, it's hot and people in high-risk groups may need air conditioning during a heatwave. However, air conditioning is bad for the environment and it won't solve the underlying problem which is climate change. We need to look for alternative solutions as well, while working to tackle climate change."
The problem is that one of those positions is a lot easier to communicate than the other.
Also, when it's stiflingly hot, your apartment feels like an inner circle of hell and you couldn't sleep last night because the temperature never fell below 30C, one of those positions is instinctively more attractive than the other.
That doesn't make it right, though.
Air conditioning is a sticking plaster at best that solves none of the underlying issues and makes the problem worse.
Even if we discount the overall environmental impact of AC units (and we definitely shouldn't) there's the simple fact that the heat chucked out by these units raises the temperature for everyone. Sustained use of air conditioning for just 10 days raises the overall temperature of a city by up to 2.4C,
according to environment agency Ademe
.
ANALYSIS: Why are the French resistant to air conditioning?✎
Summer 2025
Predicting the future is always hard but it does seem like
France is in for another hot summer
. We have a go at predicting what else summer 2025 may bring - from strikes to political drama - in the latest Talking France podcast. Listen
here
or on the link below.
The podcast is now taking a break for summer, but we hope to be back in September. You can catch up on our back catalogue
here
, and if you like what you hear you might consider supporting us by
becoming a member
of The Local, or recommending us to family and friends, which will allow us to keep making it.
Advertisement
Football focus
A post on Bskysocial.
France take on England on Saturday in the Women's Euro 2025 and we have a
handy guide for some French phrases
to use while watching
les bleues
.
Incidentally, this is an example of the beautiful efficiency of the French language -
les bleus
= the France men's team,
les bleues
= the France women's team,
les bleuets
= the France junior team.
Allez les bleues !
READ ALSO
:
How to watch the women's Euro 2025 tournament on French TV✎
Balloon
In my opinion, the perfect way to end a summer's day is to go and see La vasque - the Paris hot air balloon that was here during the Olympics and Paralympics - rise.
It's sunset ascent is quite calm; there's no announcement or soundtrack, at the appointed time it simply gently floats upwards above the Tuileries, accompanied by a murmur of joy from the assembled crowd.
This
will happen every evening
(weather permitting) until September.
The balloon rising above the Tuileries at sunset, as the assembled crowd take photographs. Photo: The Local
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
10 minutes ago
- Euronews
Macron says the EU-US trade deal's not yet done
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the EU Commission to rebalance EU's trade relationship with the US, particularly in the services sector, just days after a deal was reached between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump. 'To be free, one must be feared. We haven't been feared enough,' Macron said during a meeting of the French council of ministers, French media reported, calling for 'relentless efforts to rebalance trade, particularly in the services sector.' 'This is not the end of the story, and we will not stop here,' the French president added, as the EU Commission is still negotiating exemptions to the 15% US tariffs on EU imports agreed on 27 July. Since the beginning of the tariff war with the US, France has consistently favoured a hardline approach, brandishing the threat of the anti-coercion instrument — an EU tool that allows foreign companies to be denied access to public procurement, licenses, or intellectual property rights. The tool would enable the EU to target US services, where the bloc runs a trade deficit with the US, unlike in goods. Countermeasures The EU has also adopted a package of countermeasures worth €95 billion targeting US products, but these were suspended until 4 August. The Commission is now awaiting a US executive order confirming that a 15% blanket tariff will apply to imports of EU goods as of 1 August. 'Of course the measures are there,' an EU official said, adding: 'They have been approved by the member states. So if there was a need, we could always bring them back on Tuesday [4 August]. But that is not the assumption from which we start this next phase in transatlantic relations.' The French President acknowledged that negotiations with the US had been difficult, and welcomed exemptions secured for the aerospace sector, considered strategic for Paris. France also hopes that the Commission will manage to negotiate an exemption for wine and spirits, which represent France's leading export market to the US. 'We are continuing to negotiate with the Americans so that, if possible, spirits, perhaps wine, and other sectors can be exempted. It's a work in progress," French Economy Minister Éric Lombard told French radio on Wednesday. On top of aircraft, Von der Leyen on Sunday announced that zero-for-zero tariffs will apply to certain chemicals, generic drugs, semiconductor-making equipment, some agricultural products (but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry), some natural resources and critical raw materials.
Local France
2 hours ago
- Local France
French government prepares new law to return colonial-era art
If approved, the law would make it easier for the country to return cultural goods in France's national collection "originating from states that, due to illicit appropriation, were deprived of them" between 1815 and 1972, said the culture ministry. It will cover works obtained through "theft, looting, transfer or donation obtained through coercion or violence, or from a person who was not entitled to dispose of them", the ministry added. The bill was presented during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a government spokeswoman told reporters. The Senate is due to discuss it September. Former colonial powers in Europe have been slowly moving to send back some artworks obtained during their imperial conquests, but France is hindered by its current legislation. The return of every item in the national collection must be voted on individually. Wednesday's draft law is designed to simplify and streamline the process. France returned 26 formerly royal artefacts including a throne to Benin in 2021. Advertisement They were part of the collection of the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, which holds the majority of the 90,000 African works estimated to be in French museums, according to an expert report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. A "talking drum" that French colonial troops seized from the Ebrie tribe in 1916 was sent back to Ivory Coast earlier this year. In 2019, France's then prime minister Edouard Philippe handed over a sword to the Senegalese president that was believed to have belonged to the 19th-century West African Islamic scholar and leader, Omar Tall. Other European states, including Germany and the Netherlands, have handed back a limited number of artefacts in recent years Britain faces multiple high-profile claims but has refused to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece and the Kohinoor diamond to India, two of the best-known examples. The French draft law is the third and final part of legislative efforts to speed up the removal and return of artworks held in France's national collection. Two other laws -- one to return property looted by the Nazis, and a second to return human remains -- were approved in 2023.
Le Figaro
5 hours ago
- Le Figaro
To Fight Sexual Violence, Teenagers Advocate for Limits on Social Media Access
The French Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise) has formed a 'mirror group' of 15 teenagers, aged 14 to 17, to suggest measures to combat sexual violence, based on their own experiences. 'Protect us on social media!' This is no longer just a measure promoted by experts and politicians. Teenagers themselves are calling for the introduction of an age limit — between 13 and 15 — for accessing digital platforms. This is one of the key recommendations made by a group of fifteen young people aged 14 to 17 from Paris, the suburbs, the provinces, and overseas territories, who were brought together by Ciivise to discuss measures to combat sexual violence against minors. With one in ten children falling victim to this type of violence, 'this is the first time that adults have decided to give teenagers a voice on this issue,' says Léonie, 17, from Brittany. 'Until now, we haven't really been involved in public policy, even though we have ideas based on our experiences as teenagers.' Publicité While minors are overwhelmingly on Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram, digital prevention has been a 'major topic' of discussion for this Ciivise 'mirror' group, which has worked for a year and produced a report with 23 recommendations. 'There were heated debates about the minimum age for accessing social media,' says Sven, 15. 'We hesitated between 13 and 15. We didn't decide. We're letting the public debate run its course.' The public debate is in full swing, with Emmanuel Macron stating in June that France should ban social media for children under 15 within 'a few months" if this is not done at the European level. A law to this effect was passed in 2023 but has so far remained a dead letter. While some young people are less convinced than others about the effectiveness of a ban 'that will probably be circumvented,' they have nevertheless decided in favor of an age limit. 'It's an important signal. There can be no education without prohibition, just as there can be no prohibition without education,' says Sven. 'These are really two measures that work together, even if education can prevent many more dangers.' Margot, for her part, favored the age limit of 15, her own age. 'In middle school, we're pretty immature and we're not necessarily aware of what's right or wrong on social media,' she says. Since the subject is rarely discussed with parents, 'we're thrown in at the deep end without any explanation and we find ourselves facing dangers.' The teenager cited the case of friends whose photos were misused on Instagram, even modified by artificial intelligence. 'Social media is what will define relationships in the future. We need to learn how to use it properly,' says Sven, who is more in favor of a 13-year-old age limit. But still, '7-year-olds posting photos on social media is not acceptable!' he says. Publicité 'TikTok is hot.' Almost everyone has received messages, videos, photos, or solicitations of a sexual nature from strangers, often at a very young age. 'At the age of 9,' estimates Léonie. And on streaming sites, sexual pop-ups are rampant. 'TikTok is hot,' says Gabin, 18, who is concerned that even private videos are fed into the overwhelming algorithm of the Chinese social network, which is currently under scrutiny by a parliamentary committee. On X (formerly Twitter), there are 'videos of murders and rapes without any censorship, it's mind-boggling,' says Alice. The problem is that not being on social media 'excludes you from the group,' says Prune. To protect the youngest users, this 'mirror' group of Ciivise also recommends that private messages should only be possible 'from the age of 13' and only between people who are mutual followers. Platforms that meet certain quality and safety criteria could also be awarded a label allowing them to be open to minors. Mistrust toward the police and the justice system The other major finding of this working group is that young people are the first to be confronted with the testimonies of victims of sexual violence and incest. In the group, everyone has at some point been the confidant of these difficult-to-bear secrets. This role encourages them to want to develop peer support, i.e., mutual aid between people of the same age or facing the same problems. This measure was unanimously agreed upon. 'Young people no longer necessarily trust the police and the justice system. That bond has been broken,' says Margot. 'We tend to turn to other young people, to our friends. But someone who hears these secrets doesn't necessarily know how to react. It's a heavy burden. We feel lost when faced with these revelations that are entrusted to us." Should one talk about it or keep it secret? Should one turn to a teacher or a nurse? To better equip teenagers, the mirror group proposes the introduction of a peer support permit, obtained at school and adapted to each class. This 'training' would aim to ensure that every child knows how to receive and respond to testimonies and how to refer victims. 'We tend to teach young people to speak up, but we don't tell them anything about how to receive what they say,' says Samuel Comblez, deputy director general of the e-Enfance Association, who was one of the supervisors of this working group. Publicité The procedures to be followed in the event of disclosures could also be communicated as part of the new emotional, relational, and sexuality education program (EVARS), the teenagers suggest. All these ideas were presented to Sarah El Haïry, High Commissioner for Children, and Clara Chappaz, Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs. This material could be invaluable in legitimizing new measures.
