Hopefully this blog will keep you on the right side of the Gendarmes on your trips across the channel to France, will outline the rules and regulations, and give a link to where further information can be gleaned on the Air Quality Stickers, or Crit’Air Vignettes.
Jump to:
What Does Crit’Air Mean for Your Vehicle?
Getting a Crit’Air Sticker (Air Quality Sticker)
Where Are the Low Emission Zones in France?
What is Crit’Air?
The Crit’Air is basically a French version of ULEZ and is aimed at reducing air pollution caused by vehicle emissions in cities and some built-up areas across France.
It is by no means as black and white as the ULEZ here in the UK, where you either have to pay or you don’t and access is allowed either way.
Instead, Crtit’Air is a ranged, colour coded system that allows access to restricted areas based on your vehicle’s emissions, or in some cases totally denies access.
A Crit’Air sticker, or vignette, is valid for the lifetime of your vehicle, so does not expire, and like the toll road vignette that we are all familiar with, they are automatically read by overhead gantries as you enter low emission zone (LEZ) areas.
What Does Crit’Air Mean for Your Vehicle?
The classification of your vehicle is determined by the Euro Standard of the car as stated in your V5 registration document.
This next bit is probably going to be a bit troublesome for most of you old school aficionados of the classic VW community:
Vehicles registered before January 1997 cannot enter LEZs where restrictions apply.
You therefore do not need a Crit’Air because you are not allowed access into these zones in the first place!
Crit’Air Fines
The penalties for entering a LEZ without the correct Crit’Air vignette displayed are fines up to €750 (increased in 2025), so careful route planning will be required to not fall foul of the rules.
Getting a Crit’Air Sticker (Air Quality Sticker)
The Crit’Air must be ordered in advance at either the official website certificat-air.gouv.fr or more ‘user friendly’ at critairsticker.co.uk, and cannot be bought in the country on arrival.
Your sticker will take two to three weeks to arrive, so it is highly recommended that you order well in advance to ensure receiving it before you go. As already mentioned, the sticker is valid for the lifetime of your vehicle so it’s never too early to purchase as it doesn’t expire. The current cost is €3.11 plus postage, with the total cost at €4.91.
Where Are the Low Emission Zones in France?
Notable examples of LEZ cities include Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Rouen. In addition to this, all urban areas with over 150,000 inhabitants are now designated LEZs in France. A full list of LEZs can be found here.
Summary
In summary, low emission zoning is nothing new to us as they have been in place for some time in the UK now. There are however some nuances to the French Crit’Air system that you will need to familiarise yourselves with to ensure trouble-free passage in France.
Au revoir,
Mat
