Delay in phasing out green insurance tickets on cars in France

A fixture for all cars in France, the days of the green insurance vignette – or papillon vert – are already numbered.

But plans to phase them out have now been pushed back, likely to next year, according to Florence Lustman, president of France Assureurs, an association of France’s 247 insurance companies.

The green paper ticket will eventually be replaced with an online system, most likely an expansion to the already-existing Fichier des véhicules assurés.

Read more: French car insurance group calls for end to green windscreen sticker

Legislative delays

Despite original plans to shelve the stickers in 2023, there is now not enough time to update the legal code to implement the change before the end of the year.

For legislation to be effective from January 1, 2024, decrees need to have been published before March 31, 2023 – which is not the case for the replacement of the insurance stickers.

Insurers also believe it would take between nine months and a year to update computer systems for the change, meaning it could be a 12-month wait from legislation publication to implementation.

The exact reason for the delay is unknown, but both the government and the insurers are keen to pass the legislation, meaning it should come into force in 2024.

“We are confident that it will be implemented during 2024, and we are continuing to work with the relevant ministries," said Ms Lustman.

Read more: Six changes for drivers in France in 2023

Online replacement

In place of a vignette, an online system will instead be implemented; most likely an expanded version of the current Fichier des véhicules assurés database.

Created by the association in 2016, the database holds information from France’s network of insurers and has been accessible to the police since 2019.

It contains the registration number of a vehicle, the number of the insurance contract alongside its validity period, and the insurer’s name, allowing for cross-referencing with other information such as driving licences.

Around 60 million vehicles in France are registered on the system and any change of information must be updated on the system within 72 hours.

The insurers association believes this file can replace the need for the green insurance stickers, saving drivers the hassle of carrying their insurance documents with them.

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