Cheers to village bars

French lawmakers on Monday adopted a Bill making it easier to open a bar in villages without one, with backers saying it would revive rural socialising, but critics warning of health risks.

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France had about 200,000 cafes in 1960, often serving as the social centre of gravity for communities around the country.

By 2015, that number had fallen to just 36,000, with most closures in rural areas, according to a report from the France Boissons industry body and the Credoc consumer studies agency.

The new legislation, which would loosen strict restrictions on new bar permits to sell hard liquor, does away with "an obsolete legal framework," said the centrist lawmaker behind the bill, Guillaume Kasbarian.

He and other lawmakers argued the change was needed to bring back cafes and bars to remote countryside areas, thus cementing social ties, boosting local economies and creating jobs.