Autonomous vehicles law and regulation in France

France has recently adopted various laws and regulations relating to autonomous vehicles, especially by adapting the French Highway Code and the French Transportation Code, for experimentation (i) and long-term deployment of autonomous vehicles (ii).

(i) The legal framework for experimentation of autonomous vehicles is based on the Law no. 2019-486 of May 22, 2019 on the growth and transformation of businesses (“Loi PACTE”), and completed by:

• the Decree No. 2020-1495 of December 2, 2020 amending Decree No. 2018-211 of March 28, 2018 on the experimentation of delegated driving vehicles on public roads;
• the Order of May 26, 2021 amending the order of April 17, 2018 relating to the experimentation of vehicles with delegated driving on public roads.

On an experimental basis, there are conditions for authorizing traffic on public roads with a view to issuing a WW DPTC certificate. However, this is limited to certain specific cases: technical testing and development; performance evaluation in situations for which the vehicle is intended; public demonstrations, particularly during events.

(ii) Beyond experimentation, the legal and regulatory framework on the deployment of autonomous vehicles is based on the Mobility Orientation Law No. 2019-1428 of December 24, 2019 and has been completed by various regulations:

• the Ordinance No. 2021-443, April 14, 2021 on the criminal liability regime applicable in the event of the circulation of a vehicle with driver delegation and its conditions of use and its Decree No. 2021-873 of June 29, 2021;
• the Ordinance No. 2021-442 of April 14, 2021 on access to vehicle data and its Decree No. 2023-644 of July 20, 2023;
• the Decree No. 2022-1034 of July 21, 2022 publishing the amendment to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of November 8, 1968, adopted in Geneva on January 14, 2022, and their French implementation orders published in 2022.

This legal and regulatory framework concerns any driverless vehicle, i.e. a motor vehicle in categories M, N, L, T, or C equipped with an automated driving system. Such definition includes vehicles with partial, highly automated, or fully automated driving systems to operate in France (Art. 1 of the Decree No. 2021-873).

Therefore, the primary commercial applications of Avs regulated in France are both automated driving systems and automated road transport systems, subject to strict security requirements, particularly with regard to supervision.

In particular, the deployment of automated road transport systems is subject to a multi-step safety validation process, including:

• EU type-approval of the vehicle;
• Independent safety assessment by a state-accredited third-party body, known as an Organisme Qualifié Agréé (OQA);
• A favourable safety opinion issued by the OQA regarding the entire system (vehicle, remote supervision tools, operational protocols);
• A deployment decision by the relevant mobility operator or service organiser.

In this context, 3 ministerial orders were adopted in August 2022 to detail:

• The requirements and content of applications for accreditation of safety assessment bodies (OQA);
• The training and certification of remote operators;
• The expected content of safety opinions issued by the OQA.

Please note that automated road transport systems may provide:

• Public or private transportation for passengers. Indeed, an automated road transport system is defined as “an automated technical road transport system deployed on predefined routes or traffic areas and supplemented by operating, maintenance, and servicing rules for the purpose of providing a public or private road transport service for passengers or a private passenger transport service” (Art. 6 of the Decree No. 2021-873).
• Freight transport (Art. 6 of the Ordinance 2021-443).
• However, it does not include rail transportation (Art. 6 of the Decree No. 2021-873).

Autonomous driving is permitted only under the following conditions, as imposed by United Nations Regulation No. 157 on the type-approval of automated lane keeping systems [2021/389]:

• The vehicle must operate on roads that exclude pedestrians and cyclists and feature a physical separation between lanes travelling in opposite directions.
• In the first instance, the vehicle’s operational speed must not exceed 60 km/h.
• The driver must always remain ready and able to take back control of the vehicle when requested.

There is no French specific restrictions on AV usage, such as geofencing, operational limits, or specific road types where AVs are allowed or prohibited.

To date, none of the aforementioned regulations specifically mention the use of autonomous vehicles on private grounds, but rather focus on testing and driving on public roads, with an emphasis on the safety of road users and third parties. We assume that the use of AVs on private grounds could be subject to general civil and criminal liability law, particularly in the event of an accident or damage caused by the vehicle.

When using vehicles with delegated driving, French regulations identify (i) either the manufacturer or (ii) the driver as the responsible party in the event of an accident or malfunction (Art. 1 of Order No. 2021-443).

(i) The vehicle manufacturer or its representative is criminally liable when the automated driving system exercises dynamic control of the vehicle (Art. L. 123-2 of the Highway Code), i.e. “the performance of all operational and tactical functions in real time necessary for the movement of the vehicle”. This includes controlling the lateral and longitudinal movement of the vehicle, monitoring the road environment, reacting to events occurring in road traffic, and preparing and signaling maneuvers (Art. R. 311-1-1 of the Highway Code).

The criminal liability of the manufacturer may give rise to penalties that vary depending on the nature of the offense:

• In the event of a misdemeanour, the manufacturer is liable to pay a fine.
• In the event of an unintentional offense against life or physical integrity, where fault is established, the manufacturer may be punished with the following penalties:
  • For manslaughter (Article 221-6-1 of the Criminal Code):
    • 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of €375,000 in the event of clumsiness, carelessness, inattention, negligence or failure to comply with a legislative or regulatory obligation of prudence or safety
    • 7 years' imprisonment and a fine of €300,000 in the event of a manifestly deliberate breach of a duty of care or safety
  • For unintentional injury to a person resulting in total incapacity to work for more than 3 months (Article 222-19-1 of the Penal Code):
    • 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of €225,000 in the event of clumsiness, carelessness, inattention, negligence or breach of a legislative or regulatory obligation of caution or safety
    • 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of €375,000 in the event of a manifestly deliberate breach of an obligation of caution or safety
• For a manifestly deliberate violation of a duty of care or safety resulting in total incapacity to work for a period of less than or equal to 3 months (Art. 222-20-1 of the Penal Code): 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of €150,000.

(ii) For their part, vehicle drivers are criminally liable in the following three situations (Art. L. 123-1 of the Highway Code):

• when they exercise dynamic control of the vehicle after regaining control of it;
• when they fail to regain dynamic control of the vehicle despite a request from the automated driving system; or
• when they fail to comply with the orders, instructions or directions given by the police or the rules of priority for vehicles of public interest.

As for the manufacturer, the penalties will depend on the nature of the offense. In addition, the driver may also be held civilly liable, in accordance with Article 1 of the Badinter Law (Law No. 85-677 of July 5, 1985), which includes any "land motor vehicle.” In this regard, case law considers that the owner is presumed to be the custodian of the vehicle, unless he proves that he has transferred custody, i.e., the use, direction, and control (Cass. Ch. Réun., Dec. 2, 1941).

French law provides with legal obligation for AV operators to collect and provide operation data (i) for accident prevention and improved accident response, (ii) knowledge and mapping of road infrastructure and its equipment, and (iii) knowledge of road traffic (Art. 1 of the Ordinance No. 2021-442).

(i) Data transmission requirements for the purposes of accident prevention and improved accident response

Data produced by Avs must be transmitted by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or its authorized representative, to road infrastructure managers, police and gendarmerie forces, and fire and rescue services, for the purposes of accident prevention, rapid response to identified risks, or improvement of accident response (Art. L. 1514-1 of the French Highway Code).

As regards the purpose of the processing: The data transmitted is limited to that which is strictly necessary for the detection of accidents, incidents or accident-causing conditions in the vehicle's driving environment, excluding data intended for communication systems to emergency call centers. In particular, they may not be used as evidence of traffic offenses or for the commercial provision of information to road users.

As regards the data subjects’ rights: The person concerned must be informed, prior to such processing, by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or its authorized representative. However, no consent is required for these purposes.

In any event, data must be anonymized by a process that guarantees the irreversible deletion of the link between the data and the serial number or any identifier of the vehicle, its driver, owner, or lessee. Any medium that could identify persons or vehicles in the vehicle's driving environment must be excluded.

As regards the modalities of the transmission: Data must be interoperable, i.e. transmitted in a structured format that can be used by computer tools.

If any, financial conditions for access to data may only cover the costs of transmitting and processing data specific to the detection of accidents and incidents or accident-generating traffic conditions occurring in the vehicle's driving environment.

Please note that, for this purpose, data can be transmitted to other specific entities. For instance, manufacturers of Avs may access data collected by the vehicle's automation system while the vehicle is in motion to improve the safety of driver delegation systems (Art. L. 1514-7 of the French Highway Code). Similarly, in the event of a road accident, insurance companies may access to driving delegation status data to determine the compensation required (Art. L. 1514-5 of the French Highway Code).

(ii) Data transmission requirements for the purposes of knowledge and mapping of road infrastructure

Data produced by Avs must be transmitted by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or its authorized representative, to road infrastructure managers, for the purposes of observation of the road infrastructure, its condition and its equipment in the vehicle's driving environment (Art. L. 1514-2 of the French Highway Code).

As regards the purpose of the processing: The data transmitted must be limited to what is strictly necessary to characterize the condition of the infrastructure and its equipment. Therefore, such data cannot be used as evidence of traffic offences, nor for any commercial information to road users on the condition of the road infrastructure or its equipment.

As regards the data subjects’ rights: The manufacturer of Av must inform the data subject prior to processing. However, the consent of the data subject, driver or user of the vehicle, to the processing of such data is not required for this purpose.

The data is anonymized using a process that guarantees the irreversible removal of any link between the data and the serial number or any other identifier of the vehicle, its driver, owner or lessee. Any medium enabling the identification of persons or vehicles in the vehicle's driving environment must be excluded.

As regards the modalities of the transmission: After being aggregated, data must be transmitted in a structured format that can be used by IT tools.

If financial conditions for data access are applied, they can only cover the costs of collecting, transmitting and processing data specific to characterizing the condition of the infrastructure and its equipment located in the vehicle's driving environment.

(iii) Data transmission requirements for the purposes of knowledge of road traffic

Data produced by Avs must be transmitted by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or its authorized representative, to road infrastructure managers and mobility authorities, for the purposes of for traffic monitoring purposes (Art. L. 1514-3 of the French Highway Code).

As regards the purpose of the processing: The data transmitted are limited to those that enable observation of road traffic flow conditions. Therefore, such data may not be used as evidence of traffic offences, nor for commercial information to transport users on traffic conditions.

As regards the data subjects’ rights: The data subject must be informed, prior to the processing, by the manufacturer of Av, and data must be anonymized by a process that guarantees the irreversible deletion of the link between the data and the serial number or any identifier of the vehicle, its driver, owner, or lessee. Any medium that could identify persons or vehicles in the vehicle's driving environment must be excluded.

As regards the modalities of the transmission: After being aggregated, data must be transmitted in a structured format that can be used by IT tools.

If financial conditions for data access are applied, they can only cover the costs of collecting, transmitting and processing data specific to the characterization of traffic conditions.

Pursuant to the French Strategy for the development of automated and connected road mobility 2022-2025, there are 4 priority actions at national level:

1. Prioritize and coordinate deployments of connectivity and data exchange systems: this involves defining common priorities for connectivity use cases, in light of road safety and operation issues, and economic benefits, especially the need for connectivity and on-board intelligence for automated public or shared transport systems.
2. Finance investments in vehicles and services, and support the first commercial deployments: as part of France 2030, the French Government will finance the development and industrialization of automated and connected vehicles and their components, as well as the first commercial deployments of passenger transport services based on these vehicles.
3. Support local authorities and operators in the deployment of passenger services: The aim is to turn the regulatory framework into a deployment facilitator for local authorities, transport operators and site managers. In this regard, the 2030 target is for 100 to 500 services without an on-board operator, i.e. several thousand vehicles.
4. Finalize the legal framework for automated freight and logistics: The aim is to enable the development of use cases, by creating the necessary framework for traffic on open lanes, complementing the existing framework, already allowing operations on closed sites.

Since 2022, public-private cooperation already gave rise to various technical working groups between administrations and industries concerning, in particular, safety, use cases for passengers, freight transport and logistics, as well as vehicle-infrastructure connectivity issues.

In this regard, the 2019 EVRA Program (Autonomous Road Vehicle Experimentation) with a €42 million budget, supported 16 experiments with autonomous vehicles in a variety of fields (private vehicles, public transport, logistics, urban and rural environments).

Currently, several major AV projects are ongoing in France in the field of public transport, e.g.:

• 2024: real-world demonstration of autonomous public transport during the Roland-Garros tennis tournament by Renault and WeRide. This open-road experiment transported 700 people and 1,000 kilometers in live traffic conditions in Paris.

2025 (ongoing): Introduction of a commercial automated shuttle service in Valencia (France) to connect Valence TGV railway station with the Rovaltain business park, following a collaboration between Beti (a private public transport operator), Macif, WeRide, and Renault Group.