Lawmakers in France have overwhelmingly backed a bill making it easier to open bars in villages – a move aimed at reviving social life in small rural communities.

In a 156-2 vote on Monday, MPs decided to loosen strict restrictions on new bar permits to sell alcohol. The bill still needs a Senate approval to become law.

Supporters say the change is needed to better cement social ties and reduce isolation – but critics warn of health risks through alcoholism.

France has seen a sharp fall from about 200,000 bars and cafés serving alcohol in the 1960 to some 36,000 by 2015. Most of the closures were in rural areas.

In France, a type-4 alcohol licence is required by law to open a bar selling alcoholic drinks, including hard spirits with more than 18% alcohol.

Currently, no new such permits can be granted, and those planning to open a bar must wait until an existing drinking spot closes to acquire its licence.

The new legislation would allow prospective bar managers in communities with fewer than 3,500 people and without a bar to request a brand-new permit without such a wait.

Local mayors would have the final say on whether to approve or deny such requests.

Lawmaker Guillaume Kasbarian said “an old and obsolete legal framework” should be replaced, the AFP news agency reported.

It also quoted Fabien Di Filippo, another French MP, who described bars as “above all, places for people to come together in very rural areas and in a society where people have a tendency to close in on themselves”.

The French health ministry says that each year about 49,000 deaths in the country are caused by alcohol consumption, describing this as a “major public health issue”.