Nottingham Guardian - France to order air-conditioned shops to keep doors shut

NYSE - LSE
CMSC -0.26% 23.49 $
GSK -0.79% 33.515 $
CMSD -0.23% 23.946 $
NGG -2.29% 60.21 $
BCC -0.37% 128.638 $
RBGPF 0.26% 62.36 $
RYCEF 2.28% 7.44 $
AZN 0.31% 68.17 $
SCS -1.46% 11.63 $
BP -0.45% 31.38 $
RELX -0.65% 49.232 $
BCE -0.79% 23.206 $
BTI -0.36% 36.6 $
VOD -1.48% 8.425 $
RIO -0.16% 61.63 $
JRI -0.48% 12.51 $
France to order air-conditioned shops to keep doors shut
France to order air-conditioned shops to keep doors shut / Photo: Loic VENANCE - AFP

France to order air-conditioned shops to keep doors shut

Air-conditioned shops in France will be ordered to keep their doors closed or risk being fined, a minister said Sunday announcing an upcoming rule to combat energy wastage.

Text size:

Leaving the doors open when the air conditioning is on leads to "20 percent more consumption and... it's absurd," French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher told RMC radio.

The minister said there were also plans to restrict the use of illuminated signs.

"In the coming days, I will issue two decrees: the first will widen the ban on illuminated advertising, whatever the size of the city, between 1 am and 6 am", with the exception of airports and stations, Pannier-Runacher told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

"The second will ban shops from having their doors open while the air conditioning and heating are working".

Some cities in France -- which like other parts of Europe has been gripped by a heatwave recently -- passed municipal by-laws in July, imposing fines for offending air-conditioned shops.

The government now plans to extend this to the whole country, with a fine of up to 750 euros ($766) -- but will emphasise the education of shopkeepers in the first instance.

P.MacNair--NG