Re-registering a car in France

At present a car with foreign number plates should be registered in France as soon as the owner becomes a permanent resident or when the car has been used in the country for more than six months in any 12.

The process involved can be complex with different papers required and several steps. For example, it can be necessary to supply a manufacturer’s “certificate of conformity”, showing the car is suitable for use on French roads or, in some cases, to have the car inspected and certified as being suitable by the Dreal (a local agency affiliated to the Ecology Ministry).

Under the new regulation, which could come into force from 2014, the aim is for formalities to be reduced to a minimum, the commission says. It adds: “Many of the checks currently required would be abolished altogether, for example with French authorities getting any technical information they need about the car directly from their colleagues in the country where it is already registered.”

The commission says the regulation will benefit, for example, people who buy a second-hand car in another EU country such as Britain and then bring it to France, or those becoming French residents.

“They would not have to undergo additional technical controls and administrative problems,” an official said.

Cooperation between registration authorities will also make it impossible to register a stolen car in another EU country, it is planned.

People who move permanently to France would have six months to re-register the car.

French taxes for re-registration would not change nor would procedures for re-registering when a car is sold within France.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for citizens and companies to move and register cars across borders. This will bring us a step closer to a smooth-functioning single market - our engine for growth and jobs.”

Note that French residency can depend on one or a combination of several factors, including where your “centre of economic interests” is located, whether you run a business from France and whether you spend more of the year here than anywhere else.

You generally become a resident by default if you spend more than six months (183 days) per year in France.