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It must be 'possible' for French cars to tow British vans, because lots of Brits have their vans stored in France, and towed to site by the storage compound owners.   Perhaps Floydfan who posts on here will help as regards the legal aspects of this??

He also mentioned Towergate Baker as insuring British vans, stored in France - so that might be the easiest option.

I think maybe getting the Certificate d'immatriculation may be one of those very involved French bureaucratic processes - though I'm not certain.  It's likely to involve you getting a lot of original documentation together, so far as I understand.

In my opinion, to be strictly legal your friend would need to drive a UK car with a matching UK plate on the 'van - I believe this is a dispensation for us folk who don't register our caravans separately. ( I think storing there is a grey area and probably us storers should have a "Imm. Cert" and be registered but I could stand to be corrected and I certainly won't ask for an official answer)

However, despite what some folk say about French Police, I seriously doubt the liklihood of any ordinary French Policeman  knowing the ins and outs of French towing legislation and anyway all Policemen have a degree of discretion and a "misunderstanding" coupled with a sincere polite apology from an English speaking French resident should pull it off.  If it's a one off movement I would take a chance on it and be prepared to pay any very unlikely fine your friend may incur.

The CC may be able to give you the definitive answer if you are a member.

Just my humble opinion for what it's worth but perhaps you'd prefer to be strictly legal?

Quote: Originally posted by Voyageur on 15/7/2010

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All French traffic police carry Code de la Route

They look up anything they are unsure about.   We successfully appealed by quoting this when one issued a 90€ fine for using a UK license as a French resident, so they still make mistakes.

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Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 15/7/2010This could be very much a grey area. EU law allows a vehicle legal in its own country to be driven in other countries. Most other European countries register their caravans with number plates & require mot's, same as cars. So a foreign registered caravan should be legal on French roads even if towed by a French car.

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A UK caravan is not registered(although would CRIS be classed as registration?) & does not have its own number plate, but it is legal on UK roads so possibly it would be legal on French roads whatever car is towing it.

This would need clarification in writing in France or the op's friend would always be taking a chance.

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