It is an unexpected galley, a matter of paperwork, which illustrates the fate of the British in France since the start of Brexit. Several thousand of them risk losing their driving license due to a bureaucratic imbroglio between London and Paris, following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (EU), at 1er January 2021.
The divorce consummated, some 142,000 British citizens residing in France must now exchange their driving license, in order to have a French title. A tolerance period of one year, until December 31, 2021, has been granted to them by Paris. After this date, the only way to obtain a valid license will be to retake the exam, code and conduct tests.
Tom, 55, did it early, as early as January, fearing the process would take several months. This engineer from the Toulouse region connected on January 5 to the online platform of the National Secured Titles Agency, responsible for delivering the precious sesame, just a few days after the entry into force of Brexit. For only response, he received an error message. Since then, nothing.
The steps are blocked, suspended from the negotiations underway between London and Paris around a reciprocity agreement on the question – apparently innocuous, but in fact thorny – of the equivalence of permits. Nothing had been agreed during the laborious negotiations to complete the UK’s exit from the EU. The talks “Should be completed in the coming weeks. Before the end of the year, that’s for sure ”, promises the French Ministry of the Interior, without further details.
Accumulation of requests
In this context, resourcefulness is the only solution available to Tom. Of Irish origin, he plans to return to Galway, with his mother, the time to exchange his British license for its equivalent in Ireland – the country being a member of the European Union, the licenses are valid in France. But the procedure could take a few months. “It’s crazy to have to move for that, he regrets. I live and pay my taxes here in France. “
Leigh has all her papers in order and done “Everything to integrate” since she put down her bags in Languedoc in 2017. She only needs a French driving license. It sent its request in May 2018 to the Center of Expertise for Resources and Titles (CERT) in Nantes, which centralizes the procedures for exchanging foreign permits. Twenty months later, in February 2020, this young retiree received a simple return letter, without explanation, with her documents … but still no French license.
You have 52.49% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.