The Ministry of the Interior has also specified that 100,000 police and gendarmes would be mobilized to carry out checks on New Year’s Eve.
Le Monde avec AFP
At least six departments have taken prefectural decrees prohibiting the sale of alcohol, Thursday, December 31, in view of New Year’s Eve (Ille-et -Vilaine, Côtes-d’Armor, Cher, Pyrénées-Orientales, Gard and Rhône).
Restrictive measures put in place as the French celebrate the new year under curfew. The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, had asked the prefects to take measures to “fight against unauthorized gatherings and the phenomena of urban violence”, bans on the sale of alcohol forming part of the recommendations. The prefectures are also called upon to put in place “visible” control devices as soon as the curfew comes into force.
Sale of alcohol to take away prohibited
Orders Similar products have been taken in several departments, but their application differs slightly. The Ille-et-Vilaine prefecture prohibited , she, the” take-away sale of alcoholic drinks […] of December 31, 2020 (4 p.m.) to January 1, 2021 (2 p.m.), in all food distribution establishments and in the food departments of stores whose main activity is not the sale of food. ” The department specifies that these restrictive measures are taken because “alcohol consumption can lead to a relaxation of barrier gestures, which could help accelerate the circulation of Covid-19”, in particular. The Côtes-d’Armor are downsizing a little: the sale of take-away alcohol is prohibited from 6 p.m. on December 31, and until 8 a.m. on January 1
Similarly, the Rhône forbids the sale of take-out alcohol between 5 p.m. on December 31, and 6 am, January 1 st . In contrast, other departments have further widened the restrictions. For example, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the sale of take-out alcohol has been banned from December 30, 8 p.m., until January 1, 8 a.m. But the prefecture specifies that the ban only applies to “strong alcohol (over 18 °) of category IV and V [distributed by] all establishments and traders”.
[Ban on the sale of alcohol from December 30th 8pm to January 1st 6am]
The ban on the sale of alcohol at emp… https://t.co/449Vx9ZiQ9
Finally, the department of Cher is running the ban on” the sale of alcoholic beverages, combustible products, acid and fireworks from December 30, 2020 (5 p.m.) to January 2, 2021 (6 hours) “. Le Gard, for its part, prohibits “the take-away sale of alcoholic drinks “, but only” within temporary “drinking establishments” such as refreshment stalls.
“No law that says you have to be six”
A few hours before Christmas Eve, the Minister Delegate for Citizenship at the Ministry of the Interior reminded us that sanctions are possible for “anything that may be a disturbance of public order”, such as “gatherings with 150 people”. On the other hand, she also clarified that the small “private home gatherings do not fall within the legal field”.
While the government made recommendations to the French for the holiday season, ” the police will not go knocking on people’s homes to see if there are six of you or if you are seven at the table and fined if there is a seventh person, ”the Deputy Minister wished to clarify. And to remind: “There is no law which says that you must be six, it is a measure of common sense.”