In a TV address announcing the end of the current national lockdown on 15 December, French President Emmanuel Macron said that COVID-19 risks make it "impossible" to permit winter sports to resume quickly, and that he will consult with European partners to coordinate reopening "under favorable conditions" - in January at the earliest.

This week the Haute-Savoie and Savoie regions in the French Alps had the country's highest incidence of coronavirus infections. Health authorities fear that an influx of skiers would overload regional hospitals.

France has 350 ski resorts that employ 120,000 people and contribute 10B euro to the country's economy annually.