Events from the year 2016 in France.
Incumbents President – François Hollande (Socialist) Prime Minister – Manuel Valls (Socialist, until 6 December), Bernard Cazeneuve (Socialist, starting 6 December)
Events 1 January – 9 regions of France are suppressed, from 27 to 18. Creation of the Métropole du Grand Paris. Inauguration of the Université Grenoble Alpes. 27 January – Jean-Jacques Urvoas is appointed to be Minister of Justice. 11 February – Former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development. 26 February – 41st César Awards. 8 March – Laurent Fabius takes over as President of the Constitutional Council; Michel Pinault and Corinne Luquiens enter as simple members. 31 March – Nuit debout begins at the Place de la République, Paris. 6 April – En Marche!, a liberal centrist political party, is founded by Emmanuel Macron in Amiens. 20 May – Introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products. 11 May – Beginning of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. 10 June – Opening of the UEFA Euro 2016 in 10 French cities. 26 June – Referendum in the Loire-Atlantique department about the Aéroport du Grand Ouest; 55% of the voters accept the project. 3 July – Opening of the LGV Est. 13 July - In Magnanville, a police officer and his wife are fatally stabbed as they are leaving for home after work. 14 July – During Nice's Bastille Day celebrations a 19-ton van crashes into crowds, killing at least 84 people and injuring almost 200. 24 July – The 2016 Tour de France ends in Paris. 26 July – A priest and other churchgoers are taken hostage by two knife-wielding attackers in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray before the police killed them. The archbishop of Rouen identifies the assassinated priest as 84-year-old Jacques Hamel. 5 August - 177 athletes from France begin to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 5 August - The Braderie de Lille is cancelled due to terrorist threats. 6 August – Thirteen people are killed in a fire in Rouen. 8 August – The El Khomri law is signed by President Hollande. 12 August – The mayor of Cannes bans the Islamic Burkini the swimsuits, citing a possible link to Islamic extremism. At least 20 other French towns, including Nice, subsequently joined the ban. 30 August – Emmanuel Macron resigns from his position as Minister of the Economy. 23 August – Laurent Wauquiez becomes president of The Republicans party ad interim. 4 September – Notre Dame Cathedral bombing attempt. 9 September – Opening of the fête de l'Humanité (3 days). 1 October – Beginning of the 2016 Paris Motor Show. 7 November – Yannick Jadot wins the Europe Ecology – The Greens primary and becomes the party's candidate for the 2017 French presidential election. 13 November – A thousands of French people marks the first anniversary of last year attacks in Paris since World War II. 27 November – Former Prime Minister François Fillon wins the right-wing primary for the 2017 French presidential election. 1 December – President François Hollande announces he will not seek reelection in April 2017. 6 December – Bernard Cazeneuve is appointed to be prime minister. 19 December – The Law Court of the Republic founds IMF managing director Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence during her time as Minister of Finance.
Deaths January 1 JanuaryJacques Deny, mathematician (b. 1916) 2 JanuaryMichel Delpech, singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1946) 4 January André Turcat, aviator (b. 1921) Michel Galabru, actor (b. 1922) 5 January Tancrède Melet, tightrope walker (b. 1983) Pierre Boulez, composer, conductor and writer (b. 1925) 6 JanuaryYves Vincent, actor (b. 1921) 7 JanuaryAndré Courrèges, fashion designer (b. 1923) 15 JanuaryRobert Darène, film director and actor (b. 1914) 18 January Michel Tournier, writer (b. 1924) Leila Alaoui, artist and photographer (b. 1982) 20 JanuaryEdmonde Charles-Roux, writer (b. 1920) 21 JanuaryRobert Sassone, road racing cyclist (b. 1978) 23 JanuaryBernard Quennehen, road racing cyclist (b. 1930) 28 JanuaryEmile Destombes, Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1935) 29 JanuaryJacques Rivette, film director and film critic (b. 1928) 31 JanuaryBenoît Violier, chef (b. 1971)
February 1 FebruaryBernard Piras, politician (b. 1942) 7 FebruaryJuliette Benzoni, writer (b. 1920) 8 FebruaryViolette Verdy, ballerina (b. 1933) 17 FebruaryClaude Jeancolas, author (b. 1949)
March 1 MarchJean Miotte, abstract painter (b. 1926) 1 MarchCarole Achache, writer, photographer and actress (b. 1952)
April 1 AprilAndré Villers, photographer (b. 1930) 15 AprilAnne Grommerch, politician (b. 1970)
May 1 MayJean-Marie Girault, politician (b. 1926) 5 MaySiné, political cartoonist (b. 1928)
July 1 JulyYves Bonnefoy, poet (b. 1923) 2 JulyMichel Rocard, former Prime Minister (b. 1930)
See also List of French films of 2016 2016 in French music 2016 in French television
References