3 January – Flash Airlines Flight 604 headed for Cairo crashes into the Red Sea. All 148 people on board are killed, of whom more than 120 were French tourists.
30 January – Former prime minister and current mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppé, is convicted of a party funding scam in the 1980s and early 1990s.
5 April – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, begins a state visit to France in honour of the centennial of the Entente Cordiale. The following day, she addresses the French Senate.
23 April – The last coal mine in France closes, La Houve near Creutzwald, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
23 May – A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport collapses, claiming at least 6 lives.
27 May – Peugeot launches the 407 range of sedans, estates and coupes. It replaces the successful 406.