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BREXIT

Booze cruise: UK lays out post-Brexit limits on French wine, beer and spirits

It's been a cherished British tradition for many years, leading to huge wine sales in northern France and even inspiring a TV drama, but post-Brexit the booze cruise will be greatly curtailed.

Published: 9 December 2020 16:53 CET
Updated: 12 December 2020 15:02 CET
Booze cruise: UK lays out post-Brexit limits on French wine, beer and spirits
Stocking up on alcohol will be a somewhat different affair post-Brexit.Photo: AFP

Once the Brexit transition period ends on December 31st, there will be much tighter limits on the amount of alcohol and tobacco people can bring into the UK from EU countries.

While bringing back a few bottles as holiday souvenirs will still be allowed, the days of driving to the Calais hypermarché and filling the car with cases of wine and beer will shortly end.

Under the new rules, the following personal allowances have been laid out by the UK government. 

As under the old system, these apply only to people bringing in goods for their personal use – anyone who intends to sell on their haul comes under the rule for businesses.

After January 1st 2021 you will be allowed to bring into the UK from the EU;

  • 42 litres of beer
  • 18 litres (24 standard bottles) of still wine 
  • 4 litres of spirits OR 9 litres (12 bottles) of sparkling wine, fortified wine or any alcoholic beverage less than 22% ABV 

There will also be limits on the amount of tobacco you can bring into the UK

  • 200 cigarettes OR
  • 100 cigarillos OR
  • 50 cigars OR
  • 250g tobacco OR
  • 200 sticks of tobacco for heating
  • or any proportional combination of the above

And it's not just booze and tobacco that will be subject to limits, there will also be a monetary limit on all other goods bought abroad being imported into the UK, so if you intend to hit the designer boutiques of Paris you should limit your purchases.

The value limit is £390 (roughly €430) on goods other than alcohol and tobacco – although it's not totally clear how that will be enforced.

Supermarkets in the Calais area have for years done a roaring trade from British visitors. Photo: AFP

Private jets and boats – further bad news for people travelling by private jet or private boat, their limit for the value of goods is lower at £270 (roughly €300).

If you exceed these limits, you will have to pay import duty on your entire haul, not just the difference between the limit and what you have.

Duty free

People buying alcohol or tobacco in the UK to bring into the EU, will no longer need to pay duty, so good news if you want to import your favourite British beer, West Country cider or Kentish sparkling wine into France (as long as you are not intending to sell it on).

The UK governments says that as a result of these changes, alcohol purchased duty-free on the way to the EU could be up to:

  • £2.23 cheaper for a 75cl bottle of wine.
  • £2.86 cheaper for a 75cl bottle of Champagne or Prosecco.
  • £2.28 cheaper for six 50cl cans of 4% ABV beer.
  • £11.50 cheaper for a 1l bottle of 40% ABV spirits.

 

 

Member comments

  1. Back to the pre 70’s then. That will teach all the knuckle-draggers that voted leave. It’s a wonder the UK hasn’t put a limit on the amount of cash one can take out of the country like they did in the 60’s. After all, they will need all the help they can get with the two and a half trillion they owe.

  3. Are these limits per person? I have made a habit of bringing a modest amount of wine from NW Italy when visiting family in the UK. If we are ever allowed to travel again, this could be important

  5. Brian Woy – “tobacco for heating” is “vaping” etc. Must admit I thought it was a mistake when I first saw it.

  6. Bringing wine from UK to France.
    I’m a resident in France. I have bought wine in the past from an English firm (paying duty and VAT) and I now want to bring it back to France. Some of it is European (France, Italy, some third world – Australian mostly).

    The link from this article says “18 litres (24 standard bottles) of still wine
    AND (presumably)
    4 litres of spirits OR 9 litres (12 bottles) of sparkling wine, fortified wine or any alcoholic beverage less than 22% ABV”

    So 27 litres altogether (= 40 standard bottles).

    On the other hand, another site says ” You can also bring in 2 liters of wine and 1 liter of alcohol over 22%, and 2 liters of wine 22% or under.” – almost nothing. Another site says 4 + 2.

    The uk.gov website is only concerned with professional importers and so is useless for me.

    I’m hoping to do this is June. Does anyone know the truth ?

  7. I also have wine to bring from the UK when we move next summer, so any answer to Grabyrdy would be welcome. I assume the limits are per person although the official instructions I read in French did not make this very clear.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

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