British motorists face pollution fines in Paris as car windscreen sticker scheme opens

Crit'Air stickers issued by the French ministry for ecology ranking vehicles according to their emission of air pollutants as part of the ministry's Air Quality Action Plan
Crit'Air stickers issued by the French ministry for ecology ranking vehicles according to their emission of air pollutants as part of the ministry's Air Quality Action Plan Credit: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP

British motorists face fines if they drive into Paris starting on Monday, as the French capital rolls out anti-pollution stickers for all vehicles, including foreign cars.

All scooters, cars and lorries now require a sticker showing how much they pollute on their windscreens. Those with high pollution scores face being barred from entering the French capital on days when pollution is high.

The new measures come after Paris recorded several severe smog spikes over the past two months, prompting traffic restrictions and free public transport.

The Eiffel Tower through a haze of pollution in Paris as new sticker schemes kicks off to cut dirty cars from French capital
The Eiffel Tower through a haze of pollution in Paris as new sticker schemes kicks off to cut dirty cars from French capital Credit:  LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP

The new "Crit'Air" stickers, a play on words with criteria and "air" are distributed by the anti-pollution agency of the same name and have six categories - from the cleanest electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles to diesel, the dirtiest.

Some vehicles aren't assigned to any category, meaning they're banned from driving in the city from Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm.     These include any that are registered from earlier than 1997, scooters and motorbikes from before June 1st 2000, and trucks and buses from before 2001. 

The stickers can be ordered online and are part of a wider plan by Paris's Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to fight pollution that has seen more pedestrian-only streets, restrictions on heavy-goods vehicles and an old-banger ban.

The website to order the stickers is currently only in French, but the environment ministry said a separate online section for foreign motorists requiring the stickers will be up and running by next month.

Some 2.5 million stickers have been ordered and they cost around €4 (£3.5) each, according to Ségolène Royal, the environment minister.

 A "CRIT'air" eco-vignette on a window car in Grenoble, eastern France.
A "CRIT'air" eco-vignette on a window car in Grenoble, eastern France. Credit:  JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP

Failure to have one could mean a fine of between €68-135 but police have been told to be lenient to start with.

The whole of Paris has now effectively become a restricted driving zone.

Deputy major Christophe Nadjovski, who is in charge of transport, said: "it will be a fairer more efficient system because, when there is a pollution spike, it will be less polluting cars who are allowed in the city. Whereas currently we are making do with shoestring measure ... that’s the alternating bans by number plate."

While there is no toll system like in Greater London, on peak pollution days, the dirtiest vehicles will not be allowed onto Paris' streets in a system that will replace an alternating ban based on number plates, which was not deemed effective.

The new rules have infuriated some car enthusiasts, with around 100 motorists staging a motorcade of old cars in protest on Sunday under the banner: "No to Crit'Air, No to Big-Broth'Air".

They insist that voluntary measures, like more carparks at the city's outskirts and a discount on public transport for those who use them, would suffice.

Daniel Quéro of the 40 Million Motorists organisation, has accused the authorities of choosing "anti-car solutions".

"In Germany for example their is a system for adapting older cars and people are given a subsidy by the government to fit their car with that non-polluting technology," he says. "Whereas in France solutions are being put forth without offering good alternatives."

About 600,000 vehicles are driven in the French capital every day.

Some 48,000 people die from respiratory problems linked to air pollution per year, according one study cited by the French environment ministry, while 200 European towns and cities have already initiated a similar measure, with Berlin enforcing it since 2008.

"France is starting to catch up with other European cities, said  Lorelei Limousin of Réseau action climat France (Climate action network France).

More Dieselgate investigations are likely following the probe into Renault that hit the headlines this week, Royal told this week's edition of the Journal du Dimanche Sunday paper.

She has no reason to believe the French carmaker used software to cheat in emissions tests as Volkswagen has been found to have done, the minister said, but the vehicles in question were way over the legal limit.

Other companies also seem to be over the limit, she added, "so there could be other investigations".

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