Parking fines up to €17 on August 1
The rate of French parking fines had not changed in more than 20 years, from their old franc equivalent
PARKING fines for not putting money in a meter will go up to €17 from €11 on August 1.
The fine had remained at the same level since 1986, according to MP Gilles Carrez, president of the Comité des Finances Locales (CFL), which had been pressing for a raise to €20.
This corresponded to 75FF at the time.
“The extra income is estimated to be about €24-36 million a year, which might not seem a lot,” he said.
He added however that the recent introduction of “electronic fines” had been a success and had resulted in 70% of fines being collected, up from 50%.
Mr Carrez regretted that the fines were being kept within the national criminal justice system, rather than being devolved to local councils, as he has proposed.
The current system means the fines are identical all over France, and the money does not go directly to the council, for road improvements, but goes to the state, which then pays part of it back.
If the fines were “decriminalised” then local councils could set the levels they chose.
“What with their grants being frozen and reduced taxation power, the councils are looking for new funding sources and fines could be part of this,” Mr Carrez said.
The CFL is made up of elected politicians and state representatives and defends the interests of local councils in financial matters.
The €11 fine is different from the higher ones levied for parking in place where parking is not allowed.
Photo: © Evan Meyer - Fotolia.com
