Obtaining a liquor license
The merchants concerned must declare their establishment to the mayor of the municipality in which the business is located.
A single form for all pubs must be used for declarations of opening, transfer or relocation:
- Cerfa N° 11542 : Declaration of opening, transfer or translation
- Cerfa N° 11543: Receipt for declaration of opening, transfer or relocation
Licenses III and IV
3rd and4th category licenses are subject to a declaration system.
Prior declaration is a formality required of any operator opening an on-premises public house (article L. 3332-3 of the French Public Health Code), or relocating or transferring one (article L. 3332-4 of the French Public Health Code).
- Opening: creation of a new facility
- Mutation: change of owner or manager
- Translation: relocation of an establishment within the same municipality
- Transfer: moving a facility to another commune
The declaration must be made, at least fifteen days before the start of operation, to the town hall of the place of operation or, if this is in Paris, to the Préfecture de Police. The operator is immediately issued with a receipt.
Opening a license
The right to open an on-premises public house varies according to the category of license to which it belongs.
License 3 or3rd category
Their number is limited by the number of existing establishments. A3rd category on-trade outlet may not be opened in communes where the total number of establishments of this type and4th category establishments reaches or exceeds the proportion of one outlet per 450 inhabitants, or fraction of this number.
The population used as a basis for this estimate is the total municipal population as derived from the latest census.
The total number of establishments to be taken into account corresponds to the number of on-trade outlets in the municipality. This does not include outlets selling only takeaway drinks, restaurants or temporary outlets.
However, this limitation does not apply to establishments opened following a transfer carried out under the conditions set out in article L. 3332-11 of the French Public Health Code.
Flexibility has also been introduced for tourist municipalities within the meaning of Article L.133-11 of the French Tourism Code. For these communes, on the basis of Decree no. 2017-933 of May 10, 2017 on various simplification and modernization measures relating to local authorities, the population taken into account corresponds to the aggregate of, on the one hand, the total municipal population, not including the population counted separately, as resulting from the last census and, on the other hand, the number of tourists who can be accommodated determined by the sum:
- of the number of rooms in classified and unclassified hotels multiplied by two,
- in the number of beds in tourist residences,
- a four-fold increase in the number of furnished tourist accommodations,
- the number of campsites multiplied by three,
- the number of beds in vacation villages and family vacation homes.
License 4 or4th category
The opening of a new4th category establishment is prohibited (art. L. 3332-2 of the French Public Health Code). However, a new establishment may be created by transferring a licence IV from one commune to another, subject to application of the provisions of article L. 3332-11 of the French Public Health Code (prior prefectoral authorization).
The quota requirement (one on-trade license per 450 inhabitants) does not apply to the transfer of4th category establishments.
Transfer of a license
Mutation is the act by which a license changes ownership (article L. 3332-4 of the French Public Health Code). It is not considered as the opening of a new outlet, and is not subject to overly restrictive conditions: the person benefiting from the transfer need only comply with a simple declaration formality.
According to case law, the combined provisions of articles L. 3332-3 and L. 3332-4 of the Public Health Code mean that the declaration required in the event of a change in the person of the manager of a public house must be made, not by the former manager, but by the person who is to manage the public house.
Under the terms of article L. 3332-4 of the French Public Health Code, any change in the owner or manager must be declared in the same way as for the opening of a bar.
Translating a license
Translation is the relocation of a public house to another location within the same municipality. Such relocation can only be carried out after verification of compliance with protected zones. These protection zones are set by prefectoral decrees determining the extent of protection zones around certain buildings and establishments for the establishment of public houses in the département concerned.
Translations into the person of the owner or manager must be declared under the same conditions as those for opening an outlet.
License transfer
A transfer is the relocation of a license to another commune in the same département.
By way of derogation, an existing on-license may be transferred to a department bordering on the one in which it is located. This license may not be transferred to a new département until eight years have elapsed.
The transfer of an on-premises public house requires prior authorization from the prefect.
The mayor of the commune where the license is located and the mayor of the commune to which the license is transferred must be consulted.
Where a commune has only one 4th category public house, this may only be transferred with the approval of the mayor of the commune of departure.
Restaurant and takeaway licenses
Opening a license
Restaurants and takeaways are not subject to any of the same rules as on-premises outlets: they can open freely anywhere in the country, regardless of a quota, and can open within a protected area.
Declarations at the town hall
The opening, transfer or relocation of a restaurant or takeaway must be declared to the mayor of the commune in which it is located, using Cerfa form N° 11542, at least fifteen days in advance (during this period, the premises may not be operated), under the same conditions as those laid down for on-trade premises.
This declaration must be supplemented by presentation of the operating permit for restaurant licenses, and of the night-time alcoholic beverage sales permit for takeaway licenses.
