Country Trading Profiles France - General information

Political outline | Living conditions | Useful resources | Communications

Political outline

Executive Power: The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He is elected by direct universal suffrage for 5 years. He appoints the Prime Minister and his government at the suggestion of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister sets the amount of the State's expenses and revenue, and prepares some bills.
Legislative Power: The parliament is composed of the Senate and the National Assembly. Senators are elected by indirect universal suffrage for 9 years renewable by a one-third majority vote every 3 years. The deputies (MPs) are elected by direct universal suffrage. They examine bills and private bills successively, vote laws and monitor the government.
Main political parties: The French Right is made up of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), the majority party, the Union for French Democracy (New UDF) and the Democratic Movement (MoDem) situated more to the Center and the National Front (FN) which is on the extreme right.
The Left brings together the Socialist Party (PS), the Greens (Ecologists), the French Communist Party (PCF) and various extreme left parties.
Current political leaders: President : Nicolas Sarkozy (since May 2007) - UMP
Prime Minister : François Fillon (since May 2007) - UMP
Next election dates: Presidential and Parliamentary elections: 2012

Living conditions

Health and safety

Health precautions

No vaccination is required.

International hospitals

The American hospital in Paris

The British hospital at Levallois

For further information on sanitary conditions

Information pages of the Ministry of Health

For further information on safety conditions

The Current Travel Warnings of the US State Department
The advice of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Contact your Embassy

Embassy of Greece in France
17,Rue Auguste Vacquerie
75116 Paris
Phone: (003 31) 472 37228
Fax: 472373 85, 47233357
gremb.par@mfa.gr http://www.amb-grece.fr/

Emergency numbers

Police	17
Firemen	18
SAMU (emergency medical services)	15
Telephone assistance in all European languages	112

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference: It is %T:%M %A in Paris (GMT+1 in winter, GMT+2 in summer)
Summer time period: Summer time from March to October.

Map of the time zone

Type of climate: In France, the climate varies according to the region: temperate, oceanic, with mild winters and summers in the West and North West; continental in the East; Mediterranean, with hot, very dry summers, and mild, wet winters, sometimes very windy in the South East.

For further information: The Météo France website

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

To find an accommodation: The Union of Hotel Professions and Industries The National Federation of Logis de France
The National Federation of Gîtes de France Relais & Châteaux Villas du monde
Tourist offices
To find an apartment: Century 21
Orpi
Fnaim

Individual to individual
For sale or to rent
To buy-to rent
To find a job: Portal for on-line recruitment
Emploi.com
Monster

Communications

Telephone codes: To make a call from France to Greece: dial 00 (or +) 30
To make a call to in France from Greece: dial 00 (or +) +33
Mobile telephone standards: GSM, EDGE, GPRS, Radiocom 2000, UMTS, WCDMA.
Internet suffix: .fr

COUNTRY TRADING PROFILES

General Information