End of heated or air-conditioned terraces since March 31, 2022
Publié le null - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
It has been prohibited to heat or cool the terraces of cafés, bars and restaurants, or any outdoor public space, since March 31, 2022. A decree implements this provision of the Law to Combat Climate Change, which stems from a proposal of the Citizens' Climate Convention to reduce energy consumption.
A coffee sipped under a terrace heater in the middle of winter is over. Reducing the energy consumption of public spaces and tertiary buildings was one of the proposals of the Citizens' Climate Conventiontransposed into Article 181 of the Law of 22 August 2021 on combating climate change and building resilience to its effects.
This article states that
the use in the public domain of heating or air-conditioning systems which consume energy and operate outdoors shall be prohibited
. The terraces of the restaurants are the main facilities covered by this arrangement. Some municipalities had already issued orders to that effect.
The decree of 31 March 2022 specifies the conditions of application of this regulation and makes four exceptions concerning equipment or activities not covered by this prohibition:
closed capitals of circuses and fairground activities;
covered and closed mobile facilities for cultural, sporting or temporary festive events;
waiting areas in stations, ports and airports;
the bars, cafes, restaurants whose terraces are entirely
covered and closed on their side faces by solid walls connected by an airtight seal to the upper wall
, provided that the competent local authority does not object to this exception.
A fifth-class fine (up to €1,500), which is increased in the case of repeated offenses, punishes the infringement of that provision.
Please note
On their private property (inner courtyard), restaurants can always use the heating they want.
FYI
the carbon footprint of outdoor heaters is estimated at 500,000 tons of CO2 annually nationally, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. That's equivalent to the average emissions of 300,000 cars.
