This week’s must-reads from The Local include changes to the mail service to the US, a warning for small businesses in France, political language you need to know right now, and how to deal with a power outage
French postal service La Poste has, along with many of its European counterparts, suspended mailing packages to the United States, following new US customs duties regulations. Here’s what that means for Americans in France.
Letters and packages: What’s changing for mail to the US from France
If you are running a small business or operating as a freelancer in France, watch out for official-looking letters demanding payments for legal registration or services – they may not be all they seem, as freelancer Aurore Laborie explains.
Payment warning for micro-entrepreneurs in France
We do our best to avoid politics in the Essentials arena, but it’s not always possible. This is one of those times, as France begins the new political term sunk (once again) deep into a political crisis. You can read the full explanation here but, bref, prime minister François Bayrou has called a vote of confidence in his own government on September 8th, which he seems likely to lose.
If this happens, his government will fall. What happens then is somewhat uncertain. If you’re paying attention to the French media, you may therefore hear a few words you haven’t heard for a while. So we’ve put together this list of words and phrases to help
Dissolution, démission, destitution – understanding France’s political crisis
You may have read of the post-Brexit requirement to register with the mairie for a €30 certificate for British house guests – but there is another option for people for whom this is difficult to get.
Nail polish options were limited in the EU at the start of September, when European regulators banned the sale and use of the chemical Trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, known – more commonly, sensibly and less tongue-twisterlyly – as TPO.
This affects some but not all nail polishes used in gel manicures, as we explain…
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Mythbuster: Has the EU really banned gel manicures?
Autumn is, meteorologically at least, upon us. And although Keats had it about right with his “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” line, it’s also a season of violent storms and winds and rain. And, in turn, that can lead to power outages. Here’s what you need to know.
Electricity outage in France – who to call and what to say