New Law Proposed to Ease Residency Renewal Process: News Digest

A new law to make renewing long-term residency cards is awaiting debate, cable fires heavily disrupt travel in the south of France during school half term and the remaining crown jewels in The Louvre are placed in the Bank of France vault. Here are the headlines from French newspapers this week. 

Law Proposed to Ease Renewal Process for Long-Term Residency Cardholders

Socialist MP Fatiha Keloua-Hachi is advocating for the automatic renewal of residency permits for foreign nationals with multi-year residency cards or 10-year cartes de resident, claiming it would reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and save civil servants’ time.

This proposal has been met with large support from other socialist MPs, but due to ongoing political unrest, the proposal has not yet been scheduled for debate. The proposal for automatic renewals would not cover cartes de séjour temporaire, which must be renewed each year, and generally involve more thorough checks to confirm residents still meet the necessary criteria. 

You can find out more about renewing your residency cards here. 

Cable fires on TGV line between Paris and south of France causes major disruption 

Vandals set fire to cables on train lines heading to southern France, causing cancellations and delays of up to seven hours for travellers. Early on Monday morning, rail workers discovered over 25 metres of cables ablaze south of Valence station, between Lyon and Avignon. 

The high-speed train service TGV diverted their usual routes to avoid the affected areas, but had a very limited capacity. This railway disruption follows a spike in vandalism and thefts targeting France’s rail network, where copper cables are often stolen for scrap value. 

Two Arrested and Precious Jewels Locked Away after Louvre Robbery 

On Sunday, the Paris prosecutors office announced that two suspects with a history of jewellery thefts have been arrested in connection with the recent daytime heist of France’s crown jewels from The Louvre Museum. They remain in custody, as specialist French police can detain and question suspects for up to 96 hours.  

Two days before these arrests were made, a secret police escort oversaw the transfer of the remaining jewels to the Bank of France vault. The Jewels will be kept behind the 50cm thick, seven-tonne door of the Souterraine vault, 500m away from their former home at The Louvre.

Kept 26 metres below ground, the door is made of flame-resistant concrete and reinforced with steel. This ultra-secure safe is also home to 90% of France’s gold reserves and other priceless national treasures, such as the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. 

Read more about The Louvre Robbery here.