France deems Christmas trees ‘essential’ as politicians launch ‘Christmas without Amazon’ campaign

French florists and other outdoor vendors given green light to sell Christmas trees starting November 20

Credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP

Christmas trees will go on sale in France starting Friday after the government deemed them “essential” items in the run-up to the festive season.

“In the health crisis we are facing, it is nevertheless simple to organise this sale of Christmas trees,” said agriculture minister Julien Denormandie. “I’m thinking supermarkets, DIY shops, garden centres. As for florists, outside sales can also be organised,” he said.

"I think it’s very important for the French, for families, children during the festive season."

The decision to allow florists and other outdoor vendors to sell the iconic conifers came as the French health minister said the country was regaining control over the coronavirus but was not ready to ease its second national lockdown for now.

"If we let up our efforts too early, if we are less compliant with the lockdown, we might be subject to a new epidemic surge that would undo all the hard work done by the French people for several weeks," Olivier Veran told BFM TV.

After hitting a peak of 86,852 new infections per day on November 7, the rate has dropped sharply with the total reaching a more than one-month low on Monday, at 9,406.

There is currently a travel ban in France bar for essential reasons but national rail operator SNCF started selling fully refundable tickets for the Christmas and New Year period on Tuesday.  Mr Veran said: “I hope with all my heart that at Christmas we’ll be able to bring brothers and sisters around the table but I cannot promise you that we’ll all be together all around the country,” he said.  

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is among a host of politicians and activists calling for a 'Christmas Without Amazon' while small shops remain shut

Credit:  Michel Spingler/AP

Small shop owners are meanwhile up in arms in France that supermarkets and online stores are allowed to remain open while no date has been set for them to get back to business.

Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, is among a host of Left-wing and Green figures, along with artists, who have signed an online petition calling for a #NoëlSansAmazon (Christmas without Amazon).

The signatories want “digital highwaymen” to be reined in via laws that “benefit our economy and not the crazy fortune of Jeff Bezos”.

“This is not a call not to order on Amazon but a positive petition for the benefit of local shopkeepers and for more sustainable e-commerce,” said Matthieu Orphelin, a former MP for President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party who left the group because he felt it was not doing enough to protect the environment.

The petition was released after politicians and unions joined forces with booksellers and publishers to call for a one-off tax on Amazon sales to help them survive and to “stop the expansion of the e-commerce giant”.

In response, Amazon France said that it invested a lot in the country and had created 9,300 jobs over the past decade.

Shop owners notably want to be allowed to reopen for the November 27-29 "Black Friday" discount weekend.