They are talking of limiting it to French issued PPL holders, which de facto means French residents.
Well, more or less. Six months a year and some other ties (a home, even a second home, seems to be enough). I changed to french licence late in 2011, and I wasn't asked for proof of how much time I spent in the country. Be aware though that although you can do this with english competency only, in practice you will need pretty good french to use the licence. And of course to do the course, which will be in french.......