New anti-cruise passenger tax could affect UK-France ferries

Ferries from the UK to France could be subject to an extra tax of €15 per person if a new law on cruise ships comes into force in the new Budget.

The Senate voted on December 1 in favour of a bill to add an ‘ecological tax’ to cruise ship passengers to help pay for measures to combat the environmental impact that cruise ships have on the seas, coastlines, and cities in which they dock. 

The bill recommends a tax of €15 per passenger each time the cruise ship docks in a French port, in a measure that could raise €75 million per year. Some left-leaning and green party senators argued for a higher tax.

The bill would be considered under the “polluter pays” principle (pollueur-payeur), which states that it should be those who cause the pollution who pay for its clean up (rather than, for example, local residents).

The “amendment would re-establish fiscal and ecological fairness, shift responsibility onto polluters, and would enable us to sustainably finance the preservation of our coastlines”, said Senator Jean-Marc Délia, one of the bill’s authors, in the Senate.

But while the text refers to cruise ships, Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin has warned that the bill “does not clearly distinguish cruise ships from ferries”, reports France 3. This means that, if implemented, the law could affect passengers who, for example, take ferries from the UK to France, or from France to Corsica.

The implementation of the bill is not yet definite; MPs still need to discuss it and vote in parliament as part of the ongoing debates on the 2026 Budget, which are expected to last until at least mid-December.

Similarly, Ms de Montchalin’s objection could mean that MPs may decide to clarify the distinction between cruise ships and ferries, meaning that the tax would not – if the text is changed to reflect this – apply to ferries. The text does not explicitly include or exclude ferries in its current form.

Controversial cruises

Cruise ships in French ports have long been controversial. Mr Délia added that more than seven million tonnes of CO₂ are emitted in Europe by cruise ships every year, causing emissions comparable to those from 1,000 road vehicles.

Cruise ships are especially unpopular in Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), Le Havre (Normandy), Finistère (Brittany), and Marseille and Nice (both PACA).

Residents’ associations and the cities’ mayors have long campaigned for a ban on the vessels, or at least a requirement for them to plug into the grid when docked (and to ensure such facilities are available), to avoid them having to run their engines when moored.

Ecologists generally oppose cruise ships due to the pollution they cause, which can disturb underwater species and generally harm biodiversity, they say. The ships also bother residents due to their noise and emissions of black smoke.

In 2022, a cruise ship carrying 350 American passengers was ordered to leave the port of Nice for producing noise above 60 decibels and emitting large black clouds, resulting in repeated complaints from residents.

Earlier this year, elected ecologists called for a suspension of all cruise ships to the Nice port and the nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer bay for both environmental reasons and the limited economic benefits that cruise passengers bring.

Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has previously stated that he “cannot stand seeing huge cruise ships in the bay of Villefranche, these massive floating buildings with their effects on overtourism [and] pollution”.

Anti-cruise sentiment is by no means limited to France. Venice banned cruise ships from its centre in 2021, Barcelona put new rules in place to the same effect in October 2023, and Amsterdam has also started limiting the number of cruise ships allowed in its port.