Restaurant alcohol licence in France: which one you need

Which licence does a restaurant in France need?

Many people opening a restaurant in France believe they must buy a licence IV to serve wine. For a normal restaurant, that is not true. The official French business portal, Service Public Entreprendre, states that a restaurant serving alcohol only with meals does not need a licence III or IV. The restaurant licence is enough.

A licence III or IV becomes necessary when customers can drink without eating: a drink on the terrace, a wine bar, an aperitif at the counter. You then also run a drinks outlet (débit de boissons), with its own rules.

This guide is part of our file on opening a restaurant in France. For the full list of formalities, see permits to open a restaurant in France.

Small restaurant licence, restaurant licence, licence III, licence IV: what is the difference?

French licences depend on two things: the type of drinks you serve, and whether alcohol is served with a meal or not.

Drink groups, simply

• Group 1: alcohol-free drinks or traces (under 1.2%). Sold freely, no licence.
• Group 3: fermented, non-distilled drinks up to 18%: wine, beer, cider, perry and a few others. The former group 2 was merged into group 3.
• Groups 4 and 5: rums, distilled spirits and drinks above 18% (whisky, vodka, gin, pastis…).

In practice: a crêperie serving cider and draught beer with meals asks for the small restaurant licence. A restaurant offering a digestif or a spirit-based cocktail after dessert asks for the restaurant licence.

When do you need a licence III or IV?

You need a licence III or IV as soon as customers can drink alcohol without ordering food. Common cases:

• you open a bar or wine bar, even with a small tapas menu;
• you want to welcome customers for drinks only, on the terrace or at the counter;
• you run evenings where people mainly come to drink.

Two rules to know before you commit:

• New licence IVs cannot be created. You must buy an existing one from another operator and have it transferred. Prices vary a lot from town to town: check before you sign anything.
• Licence IIIs are capped. One cannot be issued if the town already has more than one outlet (licences III and IV combined) per 450 inhabitants. Tourist towns have more flexible rules.

Moving or transferring a licence

• a translation moves the outlet within the same town;
• a transfer moves it to another town in the same département. It needs the prefect’s approval, then the town hall declaration at least 15 days before trading.

Watch out: a licence III or IV whose outlet has been closed for more than 5 years is treated as cancelled. If you buy one, check it has been used recently.

How do you get the operating permit?

The operating permit (permis d’exploitation) is mandatory in France to sell alcohol for consumption on site, whatever the licence, including the small restaurant licence. You get it after a training course.

The course covers the rules, preventing alcohol abuse, protecting minors, public drunkenness, drugs, civil and criminal liability, noise and anti-discrimination. The training body issues the permit once you have attended the whole course.

Who must take it?

The person who makes the licence declaration: the owner or the manager. A new manager needs their own permit. Put the expiry date in your diary: without renewal, you lose the right to trade.

Take-away sales at night

To sell alcohol to take away between 10 pm and 8 am, you need a separate sales permit (permis de vente). If you sell alcohol to take away, breathalysers must also be offered for sale.

How do you declare the licence at the town hall (form 11542)?

Once you hold the permit, you declare your licence. It is a declaration, not an application: it is recorded straight away.

1. Fill in form cerfa 11542 (declaration of opening, change of operator or move of a drinks outlet or restaurant).
2. Attach proof of identity and your valid operating permit certificate.
3. File it at the town hall at least 15 days before opening. In Paris and Alsace-Moselle, it goes to the prefecture.
4. Keep the receipt (cerfa 11543), given immediately. It is your proof of holding the licence.

The same 15-day notice applies to a change of owner or manager (mutation) and to a move within the town. After a death, the deadline is one month.

Conditions to hold a licence

• be an adult or an emancipated minor, and not under guardianship;
• no convictions for certain offences: procuring bans you for life, other offences (theft, fraud, drugs…) for 5 years;
• no nationality requirement, except in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle, where you must be French or a national of the EU or EEA.

Can you open near a school or a stadium?

The prefect can set protected zones by decree around certain places, where drinks outlets cannot open:

• stadiums, swimming pools, public or private sports grounds;
• hospitals, clinics, addiction care centres;
• youth leisure or accommodation centres;
• schools and training establishments.

The distance is measured in a straight line from the main entrance of the protected place, and depends on your département’s decree: ask the town hall or the prefecture.

Good news for restaurants: there is a permanent exemption for restaurants that serve alcohol only with meals. One more reason to choose a restaurant licence if you do not need to serve drinks on their own.

What are your obligations once you hold the licence?

The licence comes with day-to-day duties. The main ones:

• display the ban on selling alcohol to under-18s, very visibly (see mandatory restaurant signs in France);
• show outside which type of licence you hold;
• renew the operating permit every 10 years (6-hour course);
• declare again 15 days before any change of manager or owner;
• charge 20% VAT on all alcoholic drinks (see restaurant VAT in France).

If you buy an existing restaurant

A restaurant licence or a licence IV can be part of the business you buy. But the operating permit is personal: the new operator needs their own and must declare the change. Also check the licence has not been unused for more than 5 years. Our guide to buying a restaurant in France covers the other checks.

The restaurant owner’s guide

Open, run, grow: each stage has its full guide and detailed guides, with their reading time.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurants
• Bars

Go further

• How to open a restaurant in France
• Permits to open a restaurant in France
• Mandatory restaurant signs in France
• Restaurant VAT in France
• Buying a restaurant in France