# Crit-Air in France (again)



## spigot (Jun 18, 2018)

Is this Green-Zones thing in France a load of old cobblers?

While in Spain I dutifully registered with the official Frog site, printed out the confirmation and the vignette, but haven’t put it in windscreen yet as I have not seen any other vehicles, French or otherwise, showing the disc.

I’m wondering if it’s a French trick like the breathalyser palaver.


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## mark61 (Jun 18, 2018)

Nipped through top of France few weeks ago. I think most vehicles had stickers on, as they did in Germany too. Haven't stuck mine on yet either though.


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## winks (Jun 18, 2018)

Seen plenty of German vans with the German one but no French vans with any. I understand the French will be covered by the biennial vehicle tests. 

Cheers

H


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## Wooie1958 (Jun 19, 2018)

More than half of the French vehicles ( motorhomes and cars ) had them on when we was over there a few weeks back.

Got an approving nod from a Gendarme last year when we got pulled into a roadside check down near Tarbes, no one scanned it but they did look.

German one ordered ready for the trip in September  :dance:


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## phillybarbour (Jun 19, 2018)

Just back from 2 weeks in France, loads of French vehicles without them even in Paris. However it’s so cheap to get the badge why not. I have put mine on clear Perspex and put that in the window as I don’t want load of stickers in my window (I know it’s not correct).


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## Wooie1958 (Jun 19, 2018)

phillybarbour said:


> Just back from 2 weeks in France, loads of French vehicles without them even in Paris. However it’s so cheap to get the badge why not. I have put mine on clear Perspex and put that in the window as I don’t want load of stickers in my window (I know it’s not correct).




That`s how i have mine, put it in place whilst in the queue at Dover and take it out again whilst in the queue at Calais.

The German one when it arrives will be exactly the same.


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## jacquigem (Jun 19, 2018)

On the same subject has anybody claimed they have been given the wrong sticker ? We got cat 5 highest I think for our 2010 fiat ducatto 2.3 which didn't seem right . Sent a message complaining on official site but heard nowt back . Anybody in same boat ?


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## jann (Jun 19, 2018)

If you've got the sticker why not put it in the screen??


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## spigot (Jun 19, 2018)

winks said:


> I understand the French will be covered by the biennial vehicle tests.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> H




This could be the reason why I’ve yet to see a French vehicle showing a sticker, yet some on here purport to haveseen them.

Saw my first sticker yesterday on a Dutch van in the aire at Pont-de-l’Arche, none of the other vans had them.


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## GeoffL (Jun 19, 2018)

jacquigem said:


> On the same subject has anybody claimed they have been given the wrong sticker ? We got cat 5 highest I think for our 2010 fiat ducatto 2.3 which didn't seem right . Sent a message complaining on official site but heard nowt back . Anybody in same boat ?



If your MH has a Euro 3 engine, Cat 5 is correct. However, if (as I suspect) it has a Euro 5 engine, you should have got Cat 3. Euro 4 engines on something with MGW > 3.5 tonnes get Cat 4 (at least, according to the table at https://www.crit-air.fr/fileadmin/c...lassifizierung/EN_CritAir_Klassifizierung.pdf).

HTH, Geoff


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## delicagirl (Jun 19, 2018)

i understand that on the website  i would have to scan in some information. i dont have a scanner.  is it possible to do this by mail?


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## winks (Jun 19, 2018)

Yes if you have a second email account just take a picture with your phone and send it to that account as a small sized image. Then you can save that image and attach to the application. Or use the email of a trusted friend.

That's what I did anyhow.c:

Cheers

H


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## jacquigem (Jun 19, 2018)

GeoffL said:


> If your MH has a Euro 3 engine, Cat 5 is correct. However, if (as I suspect) it has a Euro 5 engine, you should have got Cat 3. Euro 4 engines on something with MGW > 3.5 tonnes get Cat 4 (at least, according to the table at https://www.crit-air.fr/fileadmin/c...lassifizierung/EN_CritAir_Klassifizierung.pdf).
> 
> HTH, Geoff



Thanks Geoff will.check engine, I think I am 4.25 gvw so had thought cat 5 wrong. Still need to find how to change it though


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## jeffscarborough (Jun 19, 2018)

Yours looks wrong to me. I have a 2009 Euro 4 and have an orange number 3 crit air sticker.

Oh, and a number 4 german green one.


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## gypo (Jun 19, 2018)

Do you need this if you dont go in the cities? ive just tried to apply but cant find the class etc for our 2006 ducato camper 2.3jtd?
ive found this tho,,

"My registration certificate doesn't state the EURO standard
The vehicle's Euro standard is indicated in the "V.9" field of your registration certificate.
However, this field is included only on recent EU registration certificates. 
If so, your vehicle will be classified according to its initial registration date, which in the vast majority of cases produces the same classification.

However, in rare cases the vehicle's EURO standard is higher than the standard in effect on its initial registration date (early adoption of the standard). This may allow the vehicle to obtain a higher Crit'air classification. If this situation applies to you, you must have your registration certificate updated before submitting an Air Quality Certificate application"
Im going in just over a week so dont have time to do this?
thanks
D


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## Canalsman (Jun 19, 2018)

winks said:


> Yes if you have a second email account just take a picture with your phone and send it to that account as a small sized image. Then you can save that image and attach to the application. Or use the email of a trusted friend.
> 
> That's what I did anyhow.c:
> 
> ...



You don't need a second email account.

Just send it to yourself.


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## mark61 (Jun 19, 2018)

gypo said:


> Do you need this if you dont go in the cities? ive just tried to apply but cant find the class etc for our 2006 ducato camper 2.3jtd?
> ive found this tho,,
> 
> "My registration certificate doesn't state the EURO standard
> ...



I don't think you need to find the Euro standard. They will work it out from reg documents, from date of reg and GVW.
The confirmation e mail which you get virtually immediately is also proof in the probably unlikely event of being pulled up.


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## gypo (Jun 20, 2018)

Ok thanks, I don’t think I’ll bother 
D


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## Flo (Jun 30, 2018)

*Crit badge*

Does anyone have a link to the site to buy these and how much would they cost. Thanks


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## mrbigglesworth (Jun 30, 2018)

Flo said:


> Does anyone have a link to the site to buy these and how much would they cost. Thanks


 A google search of the title of your post shows the first result as your hearts desire.

Mr B.


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## Tbear (Jun 30, 2018)

Or we could all write to our local Euro MP and ask why we can't just pop into our local Post Office and buy one sticker to cover the lot. Get a few bureaucrats to justify their salaries. I could understand it if we where not part of the same economic community???

Richard


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## TJBi (Jun 30, 2018)

Flo said:


> Does anyone have a link to the site to buy these and how much would they cost. Thanks



https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en


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## Drover (Jul 3, 2018)

Flo said:


> Does anyone have a link to the site to buy these and how much would they cost. Thanks



Done this yesterday,  cost was €4:11 including postage.
Only use official go site as, others charge a fortune.
Biggest problem for me was shrinking the photo of the vc5, zipped it and then it was small enough.
Mines a 2008 4.5 ton fiat and it gave me a 3 cat. When filling in it said 4, but confirmation came back as 3.


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## Nabsim (Jul 3, 2018)

Should that have been in a different thread HD?


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## GWAYGWAY (Jul 3, 2018)

Probably find the French do not bother IF they are not going anywhere near the areas the disc is valid for.  Most do not drive around the Country but mostly local to where they live..Might be because of the Tolls charges on the motorways. That would put me off driving around the UK if  it was a similar toll per  miles as theirs are.  No doubt in 5 years time we WILL be paying that as well as RFund.


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## witzend (Jul 3, 2018)

gypo said:


> Ok thanks, I don’t think I’ll bother   D



Getting to be difficult to travel thru France if you don't have a badge only a narrow corridor if they activate the zones, And no telling if a emergency occurs which will make you need to enter one.


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## MJGBrown (Jul 4, 2018)

Is this a one-off charge or is it an annual thing?

Can't seem to find any info on that.


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## colinm (Jul 4, 2018)

MJGBrown said:


> Is this a one-off charge or is it an annual thing?
> 
> Can't seem to find any info on that.



One off, it's just a cert to say what emissions your vehicle has, AFAIK if pollution rises they will ban certain levels, I'm guessing that if pollution rises very high for most vans it won't matter if you have a sticker you'll still be banned.


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## MJGBrown (Jul 5, 2018)

colinmd said:


> One off, it's just a cert to say what emissions your vehicle has, AFAIK if pollution rises they will ban certain levels, I'm guessing that if pollution rises very high for most vans it won't matter if you have a sticker you'll still be banned.



OK. Bit odd really as they can see that from the car papers. I guess it just makes it easier to spot.

Mind you, it really should go with the latest MOT, to be accurate.


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## boski69 (Jul 9, 2018)

*Never heard of these before today.*

I am new to this game (March this year). I'm assuming from this thread that you need a French issued one for France, a German one for Germany. Are there any other countries that insist on them? We intend to visit France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium this year. Many thanks.


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## colinm (Jul 9, 2018)

MJGBrown said:


> OK. Bit odd really as they can see that from the car papers. I guess it just makes it easier to spot.
> 
> Mind you, it really should go with the latest MOT, to be accurate.




They can't read the vehicles papers throu the windscreen, but they can read the sticker.


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## colinm (Jul 9, 2018)

boski69 said:


> I am new to this game (March this year). I'm assuming from this thread that you need a French issued one for France, a German one for Germany. Are there any other countries that insist on them? We intend to visit France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium this year. Many thanks.




we're all new to this one as it's a developing situation, we have a German and French sticker as they are most extensive (that I know of), there are areas of Belgium (Ghent from memory) and Netherlands are considering it, we've been throu Belgium and around Netherlands over past month and haven't needed anything.
p.s. as an example, Germany have had a green sticker for sometime, apparently they are now considering upping the anti and introducing a blue sticker.


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## Braveheart (Jul 13, 2018)

I have a 1996 VW T4 diesel Motorhome.
When I tried to use the similation on the site it came up with
"Your vehicle does not meet the criteria for the award of an air quality certificate."

Looks like I'm stuffed !

I won't be able to go to places like Annecy anymore.

I hope my Garmin updates "The avoid enviromental zones" accuratley!


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## jeffscarborough (Jul 14, 2018)

We are on an aire at the coast in Vendee, in the middle of a green zone. We are the only vehicle with a sticker out of 25 mostly French camping cars.


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## Mick H (Jul 14, 2018)

This is getting to be a nightmare! If we have a sticker for every European country, including ones like Belgium, where the have different ones, for different area's, then the right hand side of the windscreen ( where they must be attached ), will be full of stickers.
They have different colours, for different countries/area's, so how can anyone accurately check, from the roadside, on a moving vehicle?

As I've mentioned before, my concern is spotting when I can or cannot enter a LEZ, because many are NOT fixed, but change, due to the pollution level, on a particular day. There is enough to keep track of, on the roads, anyway, without this additional issue.

I've currently got stickers for Germany, and France, both different colours and numbers, so there isn't any standardisation.


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## Braveheart (Jul 14, 2018)

On closer inspection, and looking at the Green Zone App, it would appear that currently that the only place that I cannot drive in France, is Paris.
I did that in 2015 and I won't be repeating that, I assure you!

I don't even need to buy a sticker as it won't give me one in France.

In Germany and Austria, things get more complicated.

This is very confusing!


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## Kontiki (Jul 20, 2018)

It is strange that the emissions from vehicles is a big issue worldwide, this would have been an ideal situation for the EU to set common standards & have one system that would apply to all countries in the EU. Having to buy different stickers for different countries is ridiculous & confusing. The French ones have the lower emission vehicles ascending 0-5 while the German ones are descending. The whole emissions issue standards/stickers could have been agreed upon by the EU.


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## Nabsim (Jul 20, 2018)

You mean SHOULD have been agreed upon by the EU, that would be the advantage of a 'common agreement' never mind, it won't catch on


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## Dezi (Aug 4, 2018)

This post by Spigot reminded me that I had not applied - so I did.

I found the process very straightforward and am happy to report that the certificate arrived today.

Dezi


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## Deleted member 58330 (Aug 4, 2018)

waste of time unless going into big cities


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## mark61 (Aug 4, 2018)

Got my French and German stickers plus Czech vignette sitting in glove box.


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## Byronic (Aug 4, 2018)

Braveheart said:


> I have a 1996 VW T4 diesel Motorhome.
> When I tried to use the similation on the site it came up with
> "Your vehicle does not meet the criteria for the award of an air quality certificate."
> 
> ...




This is how I see things as they stand at the moment,founded on a very cursory look over, so I 
certainly stand to be corrected;

As you've discovered you will not be able to get a sticker with a pre EuroBollox Classification 
vehicle ie Euro 1, 2, etc. so you will not need to apply for one ? !

There are and will be 2 types of restriction, zone 1 type with permanent set restrictions. And 
zone 2 type which will restrict vehicles based on their (vignette colour) classification according 
to the level of pollution in that zone at any particular time the authorities consider it necessary 
to impose restrictions. Obviously? any level of restriction will apply to unclassified prehistoric 
vehicles such as yours (and mine). There again they may restrict any or all, 5 classes.

In practise I don't know how they are going to implement this, will there be electronic info sign boards
at zone boundaries, and if you don't comply, do you pull over have a kip or perform a quick U turn
and return when the sign board indication permits. Or will each zone have permanent time of
entry restrictions say 8:00am to 8:00pm and us polluters can charge through at dead of night?


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## spigot (Aug 5, 2018)

hairydog said:


> There are lots of zones declared, but apart from Paris, I don't think any operate except in times of exceptionally high pollution levels.




With the extremely hot weather, Mr France & his wife driving of for the August holidays, I can see most of the country becoming a restricted zone.


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## colinm (Aug 5, 2018)

Byronic said:


> In practise I don't know how they are going to implement this, will there be electronic info sign boards
> at zone boundaries, and if you don't comply, do you pull over have a kip or perform a quick U turn
> and return when the sign board indication permits. Or will each zone have permanent time of
> entry restrictions say 8:00am to 8:00pm and us polluters can charge through at dead of night?




Doesn't seem they have much idea either, last advice I heard was that you must listen to local radio, which is not much good if you are transiting. Maybe there's a website which lists them, seems a bit of a pain for tourists.


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