Dave&Olive Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Hi Ok Got a pint on this ....can you legally drive a UK registered car in France on a French licence ?? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Of course you can, a French licence is valid in any EU country. How else would you be able to hire a car (for instance)?Edit - Our son has a Japanese licence and he was able to hire a UK registered car and drive it to our home in France (expensive though!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Look at it the other way --- driving a French registered car with a British licence. I do it all the time! And my BIL (UK resident) drove my car in France and the UK with his UK licence. And I drive my French registered car, in the UK, with my UK licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 hi ok Please read the question ...before you post !!! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSKS Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Short answer? Yes.As long as the car is properly matriculated for road use, is insured according to the minimum legal requirement, displays a current road fund licence and the driving licence is a full licence it is no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Perhaps you had better rephrase your question so that we can understand what you are getting at!!! It would seem to me it has been answered. You can drive a UK registered car in France using a French licence. You can drive any properly registered and insured car in any EU country with a French licence. Three people have answered your question, what more do you want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTrash Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I suppose what the OP is getting at is that it is often claimed that a FRENCH RESIDENT cannot (technically, legally) drive in France a car registered in another country.But, holding a French licence does not prove that you are a French resident. So if that is what you have in mind, the answer would be "yes, unless the person is a French resident". But in any case, as I understand it, this is an EU ruling and is more likely to be implemented in the UK (i.e. UK residents not supposed to drive non-UK reg cars) than in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Yes you can unless you ask whether you can on a forum in which case you will normally be told with some glee that you cant.The usual suspects dont seem to have raised to the bait today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 hi ok Will re-phrase the question then ....person has lived in France for 10 years ( so a French resident ) has a French driving licence ..they intend to go back to the UK to buy a car and drive it back over to France , the car is legal in the UK but will have pre arranged French insurance on it ....are the fully legal to do so ...........please do not give TECHNICALLY YES OR NO.where is SD when you need him Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 DaveMy understanding is that legally you cannot drive a vehicle belonging to you in country A registered in country B, when your residence (and licence) are in country A.That as I say is my understanding and on that basis I drive illegally since I am classed as resident in both Germany and France and I am sure as **** not going to swap cars at the border. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I could and did find chapter and verse about UK residents not being able to use non-UK registered vehicles in the UK. I could not find any similar direct prohibition in France but the penalties for non importation are Draconian.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_10014623UK residents driving non-UK cars in the UKUK residents are not allowed to use non-UK registered vehicles on UK roads. The only exception is if you work in another EU member state and use an EU-registered company car temporarily in the UK for business purposes.Similar rules for Holland and Belgium apparently.http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-3844567-non-resident-voiture-immatriculee-en-francehttp://www.quelpermis.com/Permis-etranger/conduire-avec-une-plaque-dimmatriculation-etrangere.htmlhttp://www.mustangclubdefrance.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4899All of the prohibitions I could find in France were about continued use of an imported car after the one month period for registration in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 You definitely can't do it the other way round, as Anton has shown in his links; we queried it with the DVLA and had a clear email back from them. We had planned to buy a car in France to almost always use in France, but could foresee occasions when we might possibly need it in UK for short trips. It would seem that the situation posted by the OP would be covered by the 1 month rule for registration in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTrash Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I agree with gardengirl. It's absolutely nothing to do with whether they have a French or UK driving licence but everything to do with where they are resident. If they live in France and they are going to re-register their car in France within the month, what's the problem, this is perfectly normal procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 DaveWhen your friends arrive back in France with the car, they must first visit their tax office to pay any TVA that may be due and obtain a Customs receipt as proof of payment. If it's a second hand car, then there's no TVA to pay and they be given a quittus fiscal exemption certificate instead. The receipt/quittus gives them their legal authority to drive the vehicle in France under its foreign plates for up to one month whilst they organise a carte grise. This period is extended to four months if the vehicle requires a DREAL inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 hi ok Thanks Sd new you would come up trumps again ... looks like I am wrong about " you cannot drive a UK reg car on a French licence then " cost me a pint ..... friends are house hunting in the uk for a permanent move back to blighty going to bring back a car with them and sell their french one over here before they move so doubt they will french reg it , I was just worried a flic might enjoy trying to " Do em " for driving a UK car with his French documents ...good news for them then Ta Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 A few years back didn't the Eddie Stobart company decide to register their tractor units in Holland as it would be cheaper - but they no longer seem to be doing that I presume because of UK law.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 For a business all ES had to do was register in Holland. He and his kit can then go anywhere (with some impositions about return to the country of registration), but there are restrictions I think on drivers and their licences and that could well be the drive back to the UK registration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 "friends are house hunting in the uk for a permanent move back to blighty going to bring back a car with them and sell their french one over here before they move so doubt they will french reg it"Isn't that different then? Firstly it will be for more than a month and secondly if they have no intention of re-registering it then the month allowance might not be relevant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Trellis Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 "French licence is valid in any EU country". So that means it's not valid in Andorra, where loads of French people go to shop, or in Switzerland for a start.Does the same apply to a UK licence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 The flaw in your logic Mrs T is that a licence that is valid in all EU countries can ALSO be valid in others - like Andorra, Switzerland, IoM and even some parts of the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allanb Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 [quote user="Anton Redman"]I could and did find chapter and verse about UK residents not being able to use non-UK registered vehicles in the UK.[/quote]This is exactly the response I got from the DVLA when I asked the question directly, a couple of years ago. However, the European Commission doesn't agree. Who has the final word, I don't know, but if anyone's interested here is the exchange of messages:I wrote to the DVLA -I have a question about the temporary use of a foreign-registered car in the UK. I am resident in France and own a French-registered car. I intend to use it for a visit to the UK (lasting not more than a month). I have a son who is resident in the UK. Is he allowed to drive the car occasionally while it is there? He has a valid UK licence for the vehicle category, and would be covered by my French insurance contract (my insurer has confirmed this). Your website tells me that a foreign-registered car may not be "used" by a UK resident in the UK, but I am not sure whether occasional driving, with my permission, is legally the same as "use". Even if it is, it seems to me that there must be some exceptions (e.g. for rental cars and company fleet vehicles) and I wonder whether there is an exception that would cover my son's case. They answered that there was no exception that would allow my son to drive.Having made a few more enquiries, I then wrote: Thank you for your reply. However, I have subsequently come across a statement by the [European]Directorate-General, Taxation and Customs Union, which appears to qualify this prohibition. The document reference is (TAXUD/255/02) and the following quotation is from page 16: "Here again, however, the prohibition has to be interpreted reasonably.One cannot prohibit a holder of this exemption from carrying out the routine tasks of daily life or responding to duly substantiated exceptional circumstances. For instance, the Commission considers that the prohibition on lending such a car does not apply when the holder is on board but the car is being driven by a resident of the Member State of temporary "importation". Neither can one treat as prohibited lending a situation where a resident of one Member State, temporarily visiting his family or friends in another Member State, allows a member of the family or a friend to make occasional use of the car." (my emphasis)The last sentence exactly describes the situation I had in mind when I asked the question. Would the DVLA regard this as permitting my son's occasional use of the car in the UK? I got the following helpful reply:Thank you for your email.I am afraid, as stated on the website, the vehicle should only used by the foreign resident. RegardsIt seems that nothing has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 can you legally drive a UK registered car in France on a French licence ??No you have to drive on the road like the rest of us .....Sorry couldnt resist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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