UK Number Plate requirements in Europe

[Grey13]

Hi
Have the rules changed at all.
In the past I had a normal plate and a GB sticker on the back of the car.
My new car does not want a sticker !
Is this OK?
Must I have both front and back with GB EU insignia.
And on the VAN?

 

[AndrewAventura]

Hi
Have the rules changed at all.
In the past I had a normal plate and a GB sticker on the back of the car.
My new car does not want a sticker !
Is this OK?
Must I have both front and back with GB EU insignia.
And on the VAN?
View attachment 8638

You need to display a 'UK' sticker now, not a GB one. And will have the union flag rather than the EU logo of course!

I'm not sure how much enforcement or worry there is about driving with GB / Euro designation still. But going to France, I don't want to tempt it.

 

[otherclive]

Most of the UK stickers that I see are much larger than the old GB stickers. Is it a new requirement or could you cut one smaller or buy a smaller one?

 

[RogerL]

Hi
Have the rules changed at all.
In the past I had a normal plate and a GB sticker on the back of the car.
My new car does not want a sticker !
Is this OK?
Must I have both front and back with GB EU insignia.
And on the VAN?
View attachment 8638

What's on the number plate is not irrelevant for UK-registered cars - as above we now need the separate, larger UK sticker

 

[GUMPY]

In France if your number plate has UK and a British flag yo do not need a UK sticker.
In Spain you do.

Do I need to put a UK sticker on my vehicle?​

From 28 September 2021, you must identify that your vehicle is from the UK when driving abroad.
If your number plate includes the UK identifier with the Union flag (also known as the Union Jack), you do not need a UK sticker to drive in France.
However, you will need to display a UK sticker clearly on the rear of your vehicle if your number plate has any of the following:

• a GB identifier with the Union flag (also known as the Union Jack)
• a Euro symbol
• a national flag of England, Scotland or Wales
• numbers and letters only - no flag or identifier

If you are driving in Spain, you must display a UK sticker no matter what is on your number plate.
If you have a GB sticker, you must cover or remove it.

Brittany Ferries

www.brittany-ferries.co.uk

 

[Jcloughie]

So following on from Gumby’s post. You can still avoid a sticker by getting a magnetic UK badge.

Amazon.co.uk

John

 

[otherclive]

You can get stickers to go over the end of the number plate. They go over the GB bit.

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Grey13]

Seems this is what is required.

 

[otherclive]

Seems this is what is required.
View attachment 8639

I will be using end plate stickers for when we go to Germany later this year.

 

[Devonisheaven]

As above, I just use a magnetic UK one.

 

[Lutz]

Note that the UK in the blue band on the left should really always be white, also on the rear number plate, although I doubt whether anyone would actually make an issue out of that.

 

[Lutz]

That's interesting as here in the UK the the rear one has to be Yellow.

I was only referring to the letters UK, not the rest of the number plate which can have a yellow background if that's what the UK requires. The same applies, by the way, to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but they have yellow plates at the front, too.

 

[Hutch]

I was only referring to the letters UK, not the rest of the number plate which can have a yellow background if that's what the UK requires. The same applies, by the way, to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but they have yellow plates at the front, too.

I meant the lettering, but looking at websites, it gets confusing as some show the lettering in Black, some with full yellow and just the union flag and lettering in black on yellow

 

[Lutz]

For obvious reasons the letters UK can't be in black on a blue background because that would be very hard to pick up by ANPR, especially if the number plate is a bit dirty. The country id must be well legible because some countries have the same arrangement of the digits in the actual registration id, so it would be difficult to tell where a vehicle is from unless the country id is unmistakably clear.

 

[Mr Plodd]

ANPR cameras ONLY pick up the registration mark, nothing else.
On the ferry down to Spain a couple of weeks ago I had a look at many of the other vehicles in the queue waiting to board (I was bored!) There was a complete mix of options. A relatively few had actual GB stickers, a few more had GB plates, just a few had UK number plates, a large proportion had nothing, and just a few has separate UK stickers.
As there have not been any posts in regards to people being stopped in Spain for not having the "correct" identification plate I can only assume the Spanish police are not concerned about it in the slightest!

 

[Lutz]

ANPR cameras ONLY pick up the registration mark, nothing else.
On the ferry down to Spain a couple of weeks ago I had a look at many of the other vehicles in the queue waiting to board (I was bored!) There was a complete mix of options. A relatively few had actual GB stickers, a few more had GB plates, just a few had UK number plates, a large proportion had nothing, and just a few has separate UK stickers.
As there have not been any posts in regards to people being stopped in Spain for not having the "correct" identification plate I can only assume the Spanish police are not concerned about it in the slightest!

Maybe they do only pick up the registration mark, but it must still be possible to distinguish the country of origin of the vehicle manually as some countries have identical arrangements of their registration marks, and it would otherwise not be possible to tell whether the vehicle is local or foreign.

 

[Mr Plodd]

There is no "maybe" about it!
The fact is that ANPR cameras are NOT capable of picking up the country identifier on a number plate in the same way as they cannot detect a "UK" sticker that doesn't form a part of the number plate either!
In the UK a human must view each individual camera shot in order to identify the colour make and model of the vehicle photographed. Maybe EU countries do the same, I don't know.

Remember its not compulsory which one to have, other than you must have one OR the other (except in Spain where a separate UK roundal (ellipse in practice) is compulsory, but see my previous post in regards to my observations on my ferry down to Spain 3 weeks ago.

 

[Lutz]

There is no "maybe" about it!
The fact is that ANPR cameras are NOT capable of picking up the country identifier on a number plate in the same way as they cannot detect a "UK" sticker that doesn't form a part of the number plate either!
In the UK a human must view each individual camera shot in order to identify the colour make and model of the vehicle photographed. Maybe EU countries do the same, I don't know.

Remember its not compulsory which one to have, other than you must have one OR the other (except in Spain where a separate UK roundal (ellipse in practice) is compulsory, but see my previous post in regards to my observations on my ferry down to Spain 3 weeks ago.

Thanks for putting me right regarding the situation as it applies in the UK, but the subject of this thread is about driving on the Continent, and things are somewhat different there. By the way, how can the colour of the vehicle be established in the UK if the camera shot was done at night?

Most vehicles registered in the EU (excluding historical vehicles and a few other special cases, for example military vehicles and temporary number plates) will have the country identifier on the left-hand side of the number plate.

I can only speak for how camera shots are set up in Germany. The actual penalty notice in the case of a driving offence will include images of the complete number plate and the face of the driver, but the vehicle itself is not identifiable from the photos provided. (The person receiving the penalty notice must have the opportunity of being able to identify who was driving at the time, hence the need for a full frontal view of the driver).

 

[Jcloughie]

There is no "maybe" about it!
The fact is that ANPR cameras are NOT capable of picking up the country identifier on a number plate in the same way as they cannot detect a "UK" sticker that doesn't form a part of the number plate either!
In the UK a human must view each individual camera shot in order to identify the colour make and model of the vehicle photographed. Maybe EU countries do the same, I don't know.

Remember its not compulsory which one to have, other than you must have one OR the other (except in Spain where a separate UK roundal (ellipse in practice) is compulsory, but see my previous post in regards to my observations on my ferry down to Spain 3 weeks ago.

About 2017, we traveled along the A10, towing. I knew I needed to come off to cross the river at Blois. So was taking it easy and keeping to the nearside.

A few days later, my son called to say I had a letter from France. He opened it and it said I was speeding in that area. I felt sure that was not possible. But that was €80 and not worth arguing.

So they found me without a problem.

John

 

[Mr Plodd]

Thanks for putting me right regarding the situation as it applies in the UK, but the subject of this thread is about driving on the Continent, and things are somewhat different there. By the way, how can the colour of the vehicle be established in the UK if the camera shot was done at night?

Most vehicles registered in the EU (excluding historical vehicles and a few other special cases, for example military vehicles and temporary number plates) will have the country identifier on the left-hand side of the number plate.

I can only speak for how camera shots are set up in Germany. The actual penalty notice in the case of a driving offence will include images of the complete number plate and the face of the driver, but the vehicle itself is not identifiable from the photos provided. (The person receiving the penalty notice must have the opportunity of being able to identify who was driving at the time, hence the need for a full frontal view of the driver).

What part of "ANPR cameras cannot pick up the small identifier on a vehicle number plate" are you having trouble understanding?
Clearly, according to you, German cameras photograph the front of offenders vehicles, how else can they photograph the driver?. I would remind you that hge only requirement for a country identifier is that it's positioned on the REAR of the vehicle, so it cannot be seen by a camera photographing the front can it?
As for the colour of offending vehicles (in the UK), ever heard of flash photography?

 

[Lutz]

What part of "ANPR cameras cannot pick up the small identifier on a vehicle number plate" are you having trouble understanding?
Clearly, according to you, German cameras photograph the front of offenders vehicles, how else can they photograph the driver?. I would remind you that hge only requirement for a country identifier is that it's positioned on the REAR of the vehicle, so it cannot be seen by a camera photographing the front can it?
As for the colour of offending vehicles (in the UK), ever heard of flash photography?

But the country identifier of an EU plate is on the front registration plate, too. There is no requirement for an EU registered vehicle displaying an approved country identifier on the both plates to have the oval country identifier at the rear, too. Yes, for the reason given in my previous post, German traffic cameras are always directed at the front of the vehicle.
Apart from Swiss registered vehicles and some from the UK, there are few non-EU registered vehicles on the roads on the Continent without a country identifier on the front plate. I've even seen trucks from far-flung countries like Turkey and Kasakhstan on German autobahns with country identifiers in the little blue band on left hand side of their registration plates front and rear and no oval sticker at the rear.

 

[Mr Plodd]

But is there a legal requirement to have a country identifier on the front? I am certainly not aware of one, it may be practice, but is it the law? but there IS a requirement to have one on the back and In Spain that mark on the rear MUST be the large roundel type.

It is 100% lawfull for me to take my UK registered car into the EU and the only requirement is that there is a country identifier on the rear, be that on a number plate or a larger roundel.
It is 100% legal to not have any identifier on any of the number plates PROVIDED there is a roundel type UK on the rear.
So please explain how a German speed camera can read the only LEGALLY required country identifier that's on the BACK of my car? All done by mirrors??