Licence: 3 years after high school, equivalent to a US BSc.
Master: +2 years on top of the previous, equivalent to a US MSc.
Doctorate: +3 years on top of the previous, equivalent to a US PhD.
Some PhDs can take a bit more time - it's not uncommon for a student to take an extra 6 months or so (or to start a few months after the official school year starts, because of funding issues). However, I've never heard of someone's PhD taking 4 or 5 years or more (although I'm sure it may happen in some edge cases).
The reason why Licence is 3 years compared to the US's 4 is that it's very focused: often, students don't pick which classes they take until the end of their curriculum (where you can pick classes for a specialty relevant to your discipline; for example, AI or Graphics for CS). There are a few general ed classes (for example macro economics, English as a second language, etc.), but definitely less than the US. Similarly, you don't get too pick. I've seen US students get a BSc. in Computer Science and having taken theater and anthropology classes in their first year; this does not happen in Europe (and you do notice that in the US, some very focused students do get their BSc. in 3 years).
This also means that the average euro student with a licence is typically stronger in her field than the average US student with a BSc.; however, the downside is that you can't change majors halfway or anything. If you do 1.5 years of CS and then realize you want to go do something else, it's pretty much back to square one.
The reason why a PhD is shorter is also due to the fact that it is common for the 2nd year of the Master (M2) to be split in two branches- the standard one, and M2R (for Master 2 Research) for students who know they want to go into research. M2Rs typically include a 6 months internship in a lab, where you start working on topics that will be related to your PhD (you can still go work after an M2R and not do a PhD, but it's uncommon).
Source: I've been through the French, British, and US university systems :)