clean air crit air sticker updates also speed limits 2023

[chaz]

did a search and it seems no replies since 2018

just received our crit air sticker, pretty painless process and easy to understand . done on line and just needs to scan the inside page of the V5C. they will work out what category you are in. as an idea, my Insignia 2015 diesel eco is group 2.   £3.98 posted.

https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/certificats-qualite-lair-critair

the only real area for worry at the moment is Lille from July this year.

 https://www.nord.gouv.fr/Actions-de-l-Etat/Environnement/Air-climat-energie/Circulation-differenciee-dans-la-Metropole-europeenne-de-Lille-lors-d-un-episode-de-pollution

map can be enlarged and shows the areas around Lille.

More and more areas are being added this year and as I understand it, towns/cities with population over 150,000 from 2025 will all be required.

as for speed limits

Road type	Standard rule	Young driver*	Rainy	Foggy
Highway	130 km/h	110 km/h	110 km/h	50 km/h
Road with central reservation	110 km/h	100 km/h	100 km/h	50 km/h
Double lane (or more) road	90 km/h	80 km/h	80 km/h	50 km/h
Normal road	80 km/h	80 km/h	80 km/h	50 km/h
Built-up area	50 km/h	50 km/h	50 km/h	50 km/h
Low speed urban area	30 km/h	30 km/h	30 km/h	30 km/h

Although , I did read yesterday that the main roads outside built up areas will be going back up to 90 kph

 

As we were regulars in the Nord, we bought  Tag , this does help when reaching toll barriers on the motorways. you get charged the rate, there is a monthly charge but only so many a year. When we stopped over Covid, we were not charged. Had to buy a new tag as our battery was going flat and the charge refunded. 2 to 3 years later and it is still working , no stopping rooting for change. Of course, you can go across country but whilst recently driving around one area, the industrial estate led us straight to the motorway!!

https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/

[healdav]

1 hour ago, chaz said:

did a search and it seems no replies since 2018

just received our crit air sticker, pretty painless process and easy to understand . done on line and just needs to scan the inside page of the V5C. they will work out what category you are in. as an idea, my Insignia 2015 diesel eco is group 2.   £3.98 posted.

https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/certificats-qualite-lair-critair

the only real area for worry at the moment is Lille from July this year.

 https://www.nord.gouv.fr/Actions-de-l-Etat/Environnement/Air-climat-energie/Circulation-differenciee-dans-la-Metropole-europeenne-de-Lille-lors-d-un-episode-de-pollution

map can be enlarged and shows the areas around Lille.

More and more areas are being added this year and as I understand it, towns/cities with population over 150,000 from 2025 will all be required.

as for speed limits

Road type	Standard rule	Young driver*	Rainy	Foggy
Highway	130 km/h	110 km/h	110 km/h	50 km/h
Road with central reservation	110 km/h	100 km/h	100 km/h	50 km/h
Double lane (or more) road	90 km/h	80 km/h	80 km/h	50 km/h
Normal road	80 km/h	80 km/h	80 km/h	50 km/h
Built-up area	50 km/h	50 km/h	50 km/h	50 km/h
Low speed urban area	30 km/h	30 km/h	30 km/h	30 km/h

Although , I did read yesterday that the main roads outside built up areas will be going back up to 90 kph

 

As we were regulars in the Nord, we bought  Tag , this does help when reaching toll barriers on the motorways. you get charged the rate, there is a monthly charge but only so many a year. When we stopped over Covid, we were not charged. Had to buy a new tag as our battery was going flat and the charge refunded. 2 to 3 years later and it is still working , no stopping rooting for change. Of course, you can go across country but whilst recently driving around one area, the industrial estate led us straight to the motorway!!

https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/

This is a bit of a scam. I have yet to meet a Frenchman who has one, and as far as I know they have never been activated.

[Interested]

I got one before covid when visiting Trescault. but a couple of months ago I cracked my windscreen.  The CritAir sticker isn't removable so you have to buy a new one.  No rush.

[mandy hall]

I was in France at beginning of August, in the Boulogne area, which is not a crit air area and saw plenty of French cars with stickers in their windscreens.

Mandy

[chaz]

in a small town, north of Hazebrouck today I took note of the cars in the car park, around 75% had stickers. my insignia class 2 and little clio's class 3.

[geraint]

Yes most locals have Crit Air stickers if they travel to Paris or other cities. We have one though I've never had recourse to know if it was activated or not. my kids, travelling down from Paris to Limoges this summer through Paris were told that they would not be penalised if they didn't have Crit Air. Different story next year though.

Regarding speed limits - It's up to every Department to set it's own limits regarding D (department) roads. Ours, Haute Vienne, decided to revert back to the 90 limit, though they did keep a few major haulage roads such as the D145 which runs east west from Poitiers on to Gueret and Clermont Ferrand, and has a hideous amount of heavy freight lorries and speed cameras. D roads junctioning from it are almost all 90kmh or 110. Many town centre areas are gradually becoming 30kmh and I think that these will stretch out to include all of the urban roads in that town. Remember that the urban limit of 50 begins at the town/village namesign, and the first 50kmh sign will have "rappel" underneath (in force). The yellow lozenge is still in use. In a town, at an X or Y junction, or a roundabout  without any road markings or signage - you must give way to traffic coming from your right. The yellow lozenge with a black line indicates that this has finished. 

Mon dieu - set un bordel veritable!

[geraint]

Every car in Paris needs a Crit air vignette.

This new year, it seems that only vehicles with Crit air Green electric;, Crit air purple Level 1; Crit air yellow level 2 and Crit air orange level 3 are allowed in Paris at all times. The other Crit air colours have time and geography restrictions on them.

As of 1 January 2025, the orange level 3 cars will be banned. That means only Crit air Green, Purple and Yellow (diesels with Euro  5 or 6 engines 2011 onwards and petrol Euro 4 engines from 2006 onwards} will have unrestricted travel.

As of 2025 all French cities with a population over 150,000 will be required to operate Crit air low emissions. 

[Michelle Young]

Just done ours. Now need to do the motorbike, but that can wait, car is more important at the moment. 

[geraint]

Michelle

Well done -just in case!

[Michelle Young]

Drove the motorway through Reims last September and was in a panic that we’d get a fine! 

[Michelle Young]

Not bad going, the sticker  arrived today! 

[geraint]

8 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

Not bad going, the sticker  arrived today! 

Sleep well tonight!

[healdav]

20 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

Not bad going, the sticker  arrived today! 

Congratulations, You now have a sticker which no Frenchman I know has.

[Don Regiano]

Having changed cars last summer, I have thought about obtaining a sticker for the new car.  I had one for the previous vehicle but never had cause to need it. 

I might hang on for a while as I am still wondering what is (not) going on with my taxe d'habitation.  After a hiatus of a couple of years, I instigated payment 12 months ago and paid on line.  I have been expecting another demand over the past couple of months but no letter and the French tax website states I have no demands outstanding.  It's a real pain, especially as payment of the taxe fonciere works very smoothly by monthly direct debit.  I was told last year that that facility was not available for paying the taxe d'habitation.

[geraint]

Don

Pressure is on regarding clean air in cities with both Paris and Strasburg obligatory (according to specific areas and times) and enforcement fines up to 800e.. Other French cities are also adopting it and activating restrictions according to air quality standards on the day. These are advisable and not enforceable. If you are a frequent traveller for the sake of £4 its a no-brainer.

Taxes Habitation and Foncier. (Local Rates and Taxes)

As we live here as permanent residents we only pay the tax Foncier, the tax habitation being ended since 2022. If your house is a registered "secondary residence" you will have to continue to pay Habitation as well as the Foncier. The Habitation was reduced gradually since 2020. Not paying Habitation is a saving of about £1000, but the Foncier has risen by £300 to make up for local services loosing out to the ending of Habitation.

Hope that helps

[Michelle Young]

As I’m hopefully travelling to Amiens and Cambrai next month, I’d rather have the sticker than not thanks. It’s only a matter of time before all cities enforce it, and I don’t fancy a €800 fine. Maybe you can afford that, but I cant. 

On 21/01/2024 at 09:56, healdav said:

Congratulations, You now have a sticker which no Frenchman I know has.

 

[keithmroberts]

I'm very much an occasional visitor to France these days given the way my focus has moved to the Salonika Campaign, but I coughed the £4 up before my first post covid  trip last summer, and would again if I live long enough to change the car again. It seems a no-brainer to me, and shows respect to the host country as well. I rarely drive after dark even in the UK these days, but I always fit headlamp diverters for much the same reason.

Keith

[Don Regiano]

2 hours ago, geraint said:

Hope that helps

Yes it does Geraint thanks, and between you, Michelle and Keith, I guess I am persuaded to move on the sticker sooner rather than later.  SWMBO wants to visit Royaumont Abbey (location of the Scottish Women's Hospital) and Monet's place so we will be fairly close to Paris if we do that.  Normally I avoid the cities (as I do in the UK) but sometimes it is unavoidable.  Very occasionally I'm in Cambrai and driving through Lille (but not since a couple of years).

Re the taxes,  yes we are registered as a second home so have to pay the taxe d'habitation as well.  This time last year after my instigation we paid the avis for 2022.  Despite registration, giving them all our details etc we have heard nothing since.  I'm not keen on re-visiting the tax office in Peronne.  When we did that last year a big queue formed behind us when we were trying to sort things out.  I think we weren't very popular.  We eventually paid on line through my "personal space" on the impots website.  I might just wait to see if they bill me.  Last year our French friends in the village said not to worry - they wouldn't even have gone to Peronne to sort it out but I don't like owing dosh to the tax man.

Reg

[Michelle Young]

Royaumont is very much worth a visit.

[Don Regiano]

1 minute ago, Michelle Young said:

Royaumont is very much worth a visit.

Thanks Michelle.  Appreciate that. 

We have that well known picture of the soldiers in the cloisters hung up on a wall in our French place.  SWMBO was studying Maud Smieton who was with the SWH and from a well-to-do family.  She insisted on paying her own way out there.  Her husband, Harold Sanderson (later Knighted) had won the MM with the London Scottish in 1915.  Apparently, his portrait is in the National Portrait Gallery but not available on-line the last time I looked.

Reg

[geraint]

Just thinking Don. Both taxes are set upon the declared habitable square meterage of your property, Ie the floor space of your living room, kitchen dining room, all bedrooms, study, bathrooms; declared by you. Swimming pool included; as well as any poolside toilet, changing area, shower rooms etc. You do not need to include cave )cellar) grange (attic), outdoor workshops, greenhouse, sheds, garage, storage etc. It could be well worth your while recalculating these and if necessary re-declare your taxable surface area. I did this to my advantage. Don't hide anything from the taxman, they are all powerful. I had three people checking my new declarations and they agreed with my submission. The local commune Mairie (pop 6,000) do send up drones to check for undeclared pools and roof windows and extensions and they've found hundreds. )

Apologies to Chaz for diverting from his opening thread.

Edited 23 January by geraint

[chaz]

Weve sold our house now, (just used some of the money to pay our UK mortgage off), so hopefully it will be more visits with impending retirement. 

As has been said, for the paultry sum of €4 delivered , why not buy a sticker, especially as the scheme is being opened out to other cities then where after?? 

as for the Foncieres and habitation, we were paying around €2,500 for each and it was rising each year. We travelled to St Pol to argue as it was supposedly €750 when we bought a couple of years before, due to languages neither side understood the problem we were sent away with instructions to measure the rooms, including attic, and cellar rooms as well as out buildings then they would check. We were advised by a friend not to follow it up as we could end up paying more. Now Macron's thugs are adding gazebo's, pools. patios etc to the charges it would be even more. We went past late last year and apart from a bit of paint, the house looked the same..

Glad we got out when we did..

Edited 23 January by chaz

[geraint]

57 minutes ago, chaz said:

 

Glad we got out when we did

Ce la vie Chaz; ce la vie. Sometimes it works; sometimes sh*t happens. I've had more than my fair share of sh*t; but how things panned out in France for me made it all worth while.

Bon chance mon ami!

[Don Regiano]

14 hours ago, geraint said:

Just thinking Don. Both taxes are set upon the declared habitable square meterage of your property, Ie the floor space of your living room, kitchen dining room, all bedrooms, study, bathrooms; declared by you. Swimming pool included; as well as any poolside toilet, changing area, shower rooms etc. You do not need to include cave )cellar) grange (attic), outdoor workshops, greenhouse, sheds, garage, storage etc. It could be well worth your while recalculating these and if necessary re-declare your taxable surface area. I did this to my advantage. Don't hide anything from the taxman, they are all powerful. I had three people checking my new declarations and they agreed with my submission. The local commune Mairie (pop 6,000) do send up drones to check for undeclared pools and roof windows and extensions and they've found hundreds. )

Apologies to Chaz for diverting from his opening thread.

That's good advice geraint.  I sent in a declaration last year after receiving a request from the government.  I did it from here because of the time restraints they imposed.  The numbers they had listed in the forms seemed to be about right but you have spurred me on to check when I am back over there.  They did ask for details about dépendences.  We took the corrugated roof off one of the barns after the structure had been badly mangled after a mini-tornado struck the village.  I'm not sure that would make any difference.  The other issue is that we are only paying €1,600 in total for the two taxes so I might be in the position mentioned by @chaz of potentially ending up paying more if I raise an issue.  I don't think our commune is into drones just yet.  There are only about 70 people living in the village so it's not too difficult to check things.

Anyway, off to order my sticker now - just to get us back on thread.

Reg

[chaz]

diverting again,

as we could not go during covid, rules forbade us, we were paying €5,000 each year, then when we sold, we still had the one to pay for the following year, so 12,500 out of pocket.

the local "public works construction company" that had the units behind us, that were originally part of the house we had has permanently closed, presumably, they relocated to bigger premises ( behind us ) then got hit by high taxes and have gone bust. prior to the move they had been working from the parents bungalow.

Its worth checking the sizes of rooms, we were offered a place not far from Hesdin towards Reg, but the "workshop" behind was bigger than the house, that would double the taxes. 

The other costly part was taking the dog over, but as she has now passed on, Im reluctant to get another . I am still getting notifications of local rules.

The local Maire wants people to stop their dogs barking. No mowing or chainsaws on Sundays, now I hear he wants to stop cockerels crowing.  Yet tractors used to charge through the village after midnight during summer harvest!!

What sort of place is it becoming?

carrying breathalysers (2 off) is a law, yet the Gendarmes will not use them as not legally calibrated. I have been stopped on a Sunday afternoon for a breath test, he didnt ask for mine, BUT, they were there. Its easy to take a wrong turn near a autoroute toll booth and head off towards a CritAir city, so, as its not a great cost, better safe than sorry.

I had mentioned above previously we parked in a town carpark to visit the local cemetery and did notice many French cars with the stickers in the windscreens, with various colours .