Events from the year 2016 in France.

• President – François Hollande (Socialist)
• Prime Minister – Manuel Valls (Socialist, until 6 December), Bernard Cazeneuve (Socialist, starting 6 December)

• 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.^[1]
• 14 July – During Nice's Bastille Day celebrations a 19-ton van crashes into crowds, killing at least 84 people and injuring almost 200.^[2]
• 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.^[3]
• 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.^[4] At least 20 other French towns, including Nice, subsequently joined the ban.^[5][6]
• 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.

• 1 January – Jacques Deny, mathematician (b. 1916)
• 2 January – Michel 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 January – Yves Vincent, actor (b. 1921)
• 7 January – André Courrèges, fashion designer (b. 1923)
• 15 January – Robert Darène, film director and actor (b. 1914)
• 18 January
  • Michel Tournier, writer (b. 1924)
  • Leila Alaoui, artist and photographer (b. 1982)
• 20 January – Edmonde Charles-Roux, writer (b. 1920)
• 21 January – Robert Sassone, road racing cyclist (b. 1978)
• 23 January – Bernard Quennehen, road racing cyclist (b. 1930)
• 28 January – Emile Destombes, Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1935)
• 29 January – Jacques Rivette, film director and film critic (b. 1928)
• 31 January – Benoît Violier, chef (b. 1971)

• 1 February – Bernard Piras, politician (b. 1942)
• 7 February – Juliette Benzoni, writer (b. 1920)
• 8 February – Violette Verdy, ballerina (b. 1933)
• 17 February – Claude Jeancolas, author (b. 1949)

• 1 March – Jean Miotte, abstract painter (b. 1926)
• 1 March – Carole Achache, writer, photographer and actress (b. 1952)^[7]

• 1 April – André Villers, photographer (b. 1930)
• 15 April – Anne Grommerch, politician (b. 1970)

• 1 May – Jean-Marie Girault, politician (b. 1926)
• 5 May – Siné, political cartoonist (b. 1928)

• 1 July – Yves Bonnefoy, poet (b. 1923)
• 2 July – Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister (b. 1930)

• List of French films of 2016
• 2016 in French music
• 2016 in French television