Euro car number plates

Mar 17, 2006
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This is my first time driving in France, I have changed all my number plates to the ones with the euro logo and GB under it, thinking If I did this I wouldnt need the Black / White GB sticker for the car and Caravan. Then the Cravan mag drops on the door step and it informs me that you still need a Black / White GB sticker is this true?
 
Jan 2, 2006
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The article says French and Dutch police say that I must confess I have never heard that before so I have no idea where he got that from,mind you I find the author of that article is sometimes a little inventive.I have never had a problem using just the number plates as I suspect have thousands of others.When you go you will also a lot with neither.
 
Jan 2, 2006
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Having read more of the magazine the same point is raised later on with a different slant on the position.

If you are concerned about being crammed onto the ferry this point is covered at the botom left of page 52 and you can take comfort that you have as much room as an 'arctic'.However never having seen one I can only assume they are at least as big as other lorries!
 
Mar 14, 2005
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If you have true Euro number plates, i.e. with the 12 stars in a circle on a blue background and 'GB' underneath, you do not need a separate GB sticker for entry into any EU country and Switzerland. However, this does not apply to Euro 'look-alikes' such as with St. George's cross and 'ENG' underneath, etc.
 
Feb 4, 2007
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The UK never signed up to the border treaty which allows use of eu plates. Therefore apparently it is not legal to use them abroad. In practice though nobody seems to bother. Im just back from 2 weeks in france and most of the British cars I saw only had standard british plates.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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What do you mean by 'border treaty'? If you mean the Schengen Agreement governing cross-border controls, this has nothing to do with EU number plates.

There is no UK requirement to have EU number plates but if you have standard UK plates, you will need a separate oval GB sticker.
 
Feb 4, 2007
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Do you have a source for this info lutz. It contradicts several articles I have read recently which unfortunately I cant remember the source of.

Colin
 
Mar 14, 2005
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The introduction of Euro plates in the UK, even if only on a voluntary basis, would have been a rather pointless exercise if there was nothing to be gained by it. The whole idea of Euro plates is to avoid having to have any additional oval national sticker.

The countries which followed the Schengen Agreement have done away with passport control and customs at their borders but Euro plates are applicable also in those countries which did not sign this agreement, such as the UK.
 
Feb 4, 2007
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thanks Lutz. I thought this was the case and bought a set of EU plates. Then people started telling me they were useless and showing me articles from magazines and papers. One person had been stopped and warned by french police. Then the caravan club mag came through the door saying the same so I just put on GB stickers to be safe. The ralevant EU regulation would seem to say GB EU plates are OK though http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/1998/l_299/l_29919981110en00010003.pdf
 
Feb 3, 2006
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Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper just to stick a GB sticker on the back anyway ? I guess it also highlights the fact that the tow car is right hand drive and might have greater difficulty overtaking on single carriageway routes than a left hand drive one.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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That's not a bad idea, Rioja, but there are proportionately so few right hand drive cars on the Continent that most drivers take it for granted that all are left hand drive and will fail to give the GB sticker on the back any further thought.
 
Feb 3, 2006
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In 1969 I set off with a friend hitch hiking in Spain. We were getting nowhere fast. There were a few British cars about even then, so we thought we might improve our chances with them in particular if we displayed a GB sticker. The result was that the Brits all looked the other way and one local car even lobbed a tomato at us !

The power of a GB sticker eh !
 

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