Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

DRIVING

Revealed: The simple way to benefit from French government financial aid to buy a car

France has numerous grants and low-interest loans available for anyone who wants to update their vehicles, but knowing what help you’re entitled to and how to get it can be a bit of a minefield - here's how you can cut the paperwork.

Published: 11 May 2023 15:35 CEST
Revealed: The simple way to benefit from French government financial aid to buy a car
Buying a car in France - as complicated as buying one anywhere. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

From the bonuses available, to the quick and easy way to access them, and what you need with you to buy a car, we have the lowdown.

Green bonuses

Whether you’re buying a new or used car, France offers two main grants to encourage people to opt for a cleaner, greener vehicle.

The first is the bonus écologique (ecological bonus), available to purchasers of a new electric or plug-in hybrid car or van, or a second-hand electric vehicle. In order to qualify, new cars must emit less than 50g of CO2 per kilometre, while the limit is 20g for used electric cars.

The second aid is the means-tested prime à la conversion (exchange grant), which offers help towards a new or used car in exchange for sending a polluting car to the scrapheap. 

In order to see if you benefit from the prime à la conversion, and how much you may receive, the government has set up an online simulation. 

READ ALSO EXPLAINED: The financial aid available to buy an electric car in France

Local subsidies

In addition to government grants, local grants may be available if you want to buy a less polluting vehicle. Current national and local subsidies are listed here by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Further information is available from the government website Je Change Ma Voiture

Government-backed microloans

Lower-income households may also be eligible for a government-backed loan to help cover part of the purchase price of the eco-friendly vehicle. 

The scheme allows people with limited resources to buy or rent a low-polluting car or two-wheeler (bicycle, motorbike or electric scooter). Guaranteed at 50 percent by the State, the amount of the loan varies according to household income, up to €5,000 repayable over five years. It can be combined with the ecological bonus and the conversion bonus.

Full details are available here

How to cut the paperwork

Yeah, we know. So far so confusing. Especially when you add in all the local help. However, there is a way to cut through most of the bureaucracy . . .

All this financial help from the government brings vehicles into people’s financial reach that they would otherwise not even consider. And that means it’s in dealers’ interests to help out.

Most car dealers will sort out all the paperwork for a bonus écologique and a prime à la conversion on your behalf, because it helps them sell cars – just mention them when you go along to look at new or second-vehicles are your local dealership.

If, however, you don’t take up the offer of financial help at the point of purchase, you may be able to apply for it retrospectively up to six months later. Find out more here.

READ ALSO What you should know when buying a car in France

Paperwork you’ll need to buy a car

There’s still paperwork when you buy a car. You must sign a certificat de cession (transfer certificate) along with the previous owner, or the dealership, who has to declare the sale on the ANTS website within 15 days. 

The seller should then receive a code de cession (transfer code) which they must send you because you will need this to register the vehicle in your name. There is a fee, which usually falls to the buyer to pay for transferring a vehicle registration – which varies depending on the region, type of car, and its CO2 emissions. 

The previous certificat d’immatriculation (aka carte grise) needs to be struck through, and completed with the date of the sale and the seller’s signature.

You will then need to register the car in your name, which can be done online. You have one month to do this, otherwise you risk a fine of up to €750. 

READ ALSO Reader question: Can I buy or sell a car in France if I have a foreign driving licence?

To register the vehicle, you need the following official documents:

  • Identification (passport or identity card)
  • Proof of residence (typically a utility bill or rental receipt, less than six months old).
  • A copy of the Certificat d’immatriculation/Carte Grise with the appropriate section filled in.
  • A valid contrôle technique (CT) certificate, if the vehicle is more than four years old.

If you are purchasing the car through a dealer, this transfer of registration will be done at the time of the purchase. A dealer may ask for your driving licence as part of the process – as long as you hold a valid licence, whether it is French or not, you should still be able to go through with your purchase.

Buying a car with a loan

If you have the funds to buy the vehicle outright, you simply hand over the cheque at the appropriate time. It is likely to be more difficult, however, to access financing – and any aid – for your vehicle if you are not permanently resident in France.

Driving your new vehicle

If you plan to drive your car away that day, you will also be asked for a copy of a valid insurance certificate for the vehicle – in France, the vehicle is insured rather than the driver. 

Most car insurance companies will provide a provisional certificate to allow you to drive your new purchase. You will then need to finalise details and provide them with a copy of the Carte Grise when it arrives.

Driving licence

If you live permanently in France, sooner or later you may need to swap your driving licence for a French one – but where you learned to drive in the first place could dictate whether you have to take a French driving test. We cover that in depth here – including what’s changed for Britons in France after Brexit.

You can buy some vehicles – known as voitures sans permis – and drive them on some French roads without having a driving licence. Anyone born after 1988 must, however, hold a Brevet de sécurité routière, which has a 15-year limit, and the vehicles are speed limited and can only travel on certain routes.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SCHOOLS

Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

School children in France are entitled to a lunchtime meal of three, or even four courses – but what if you prefer to provide meals yourself? 

Published: 22 May 2024 12:24 CEST
Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

French school meals are, famously, pretty good – children get a three or even four-course meal of properly prepared dishes and the menu (including cheese course) is usually published in the local town newsletter so everyone can see the types of meals being served.

The concept of a proper meal at lunchtime is an important one. “The diet of a school-age child is essential for their growth, mental development and learning abilities,” the French Education Ministry says in a preamble about school meals on its website. “It must be balanced, varied and distributed throughout the day: for example 20 percent of total energy in the morning, 40 percent at midday, 10 percent at four o’clock and 30 percent in the evening.”

And it’s not all about nutrition, the social aspect of sitting together and eating a meal is also important – the ministry continues: “Mealtime is an opportunity for students to relax and communicate. It should also be a time for discovery and enjoyment.”

All schools provide meals in a canteen and most pupils take up the opportunity – however it’s also possible for pupils to go home at lunchtime so that they can eat lunch with their parents.

The idea of taking in a packed lunch (panier-repas) is much less common in France – but is it actually banned?

The rules on lunch

At écoles (up to age 11), the local authority or établissement public de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) is responsible for providing quality school meals. This generally involves meals being provided via a central kitchen, and then delivered to the school’s kitchen, where it can be kept warm, or reheated as necessary.

The system is slightly different in collèges and lycées (attended by children aged 11 and up). In those establishments, catering falls into the purview of the wider département or region – and is routinely managed directly by individual establishments, which will have catering staff on site to prepare meals. Often, meal services are outsourced to private businesses, which operate the kitchens.

There are various rules and regulations in place regarding what food is offered, and how long a child has to eat – which is, in part, why the school lunch period is so long. Children must be allowed a 30-minute period to eat their meal, from the moment they sit down with it at the table. 

Then, they’re given time to play and relax before afternoon classes start.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

At a minimum lunch must include a main course with a side dish, a dairy-based product, as well as a starter and/or a dessert. Meals must also, the government says, be composed of 50 percent sustainable quality products (including 20 percent organic).

Some local authorities go further and serve only or mostly food that is organic, locally sourced or both.

Water and bread must be freely available, but salt and condiments can only be added in preparation – no sauce bottles or salt and pepper on the tables. 

Daily menus are generally available to view on school websites and many town newspapers or newsletters also publish them.

Parents pay a fee for the school lunch, which is calculated according to income and can be free in the case of low-income families.

Packed lunch

But what if your child doesn’t like the school lunches and you don’t have time to pick them up, cook a full lunch and take them back in the afternoon everyday? The obvious solution would seem to be to send them in with a packed lunch, as is common in the UK and USA.

In theory this is possible, but only in certain circumstances and with very strict rules and caveats. 

The Ministry, in a written response to a Senator’s question in 2019, said: “The use of packed lunches [home-supplied meals] by primary school students can provide an alternative to school meals. This method of catering is authorised in particular for children with a medically established food allergy or intolerance, requiring an adapted diet.”

READ ALSO How to enrol a non-French speaking child in school in France

It added: “the preparation and use of packed lunches in schools must follow certain rules. First of all, it is important to respect the cold chain”.

The cold chain is a term applied to food handling and distribution – it’s usually used by food-preparation businesses, but in the context of a packed lunch it means that food prepared at home must be kept in appropriately cool conditions until it is ready to eat. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that the food is delivered to school in containers appropriate for the job (ie an insulated cool bag).

Once at the school, it is up to whoever manages the kitchen to ensure that food is properly reheated. This becomes the sticking point at which many parents’ requests to send their children to school with a packed lunch, rather than go to the canteen, or eat back at home, are refused.

The reheating concern suggests that schools are also expecting parents to prepare a proper meal – rather than just throwing some sandwiches and a cereal bar into a bag.

Unless there’s a genuine and proven health reason for your child to eat a home-prepared meal, most parents will probably find the school won’t budge on this – even in cases of a strike by kitchen staff or lunch monitors.

READ ALSO Just how much do private schools in France cost?

The Ministry’s written response explains: “[A]s this is an optional public service, the municipality can justify its refusal to admit the children concerned by objective material and financial constraints, such as the need to equip itself with additional refrigerators, or for additional supervisory staff to supervise them during lunch.”

As well as the practicalities, for some schools this is an equality issue – because of the varied fee structure for school lunches what happens in effect is that richer parents are subsidising a good quality lunchtime meal for poorer students in the class; if everyone brought in a packed lunch and therefore stopped paying the fee, the lower-income kids would miss out. 

What about allergies or other health issues?

Children with allergies or other health issues that require a particular diet must be accommodated. An individual meal plan – known as a projet d’accueil individualisé (PAI) can be set up. More details (in French) are available here, on the government’s website.

It also becomes easier for parents to provide home-produced meals in such instances. As ever, it is up to the parents to ensure any meals are appropriately packaged and transported to school.

Not all schools

Some individual schools in France do permit pupils to bring in meals from home. They must be taken to school in an appropriate cold-storage container, and they will be stored in the kitchen area until they are needed, when meals will – if necessary – be reheated.

SHOW COMMENTS