What Crit’Air sticker do I need?

Which CRIT’air Sticker Do I Need?

Crit’air is France’s contribution to European measures to limit the carbon emissions from motorised transport within urban environments.  The scheme was developed by the French Ministry of the Environment in collaboration with the French Ministry of the Interior and came into force in January 2017.

To drive within one of six French cities, you need to display your CRIT-air sticker.  The cities currently covered include Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Lille, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Chambery, and Marseille.

The certificates come in the form of circular, colour-coded windscreen stickers (vignettes) that designate the level of emissions your vehicle produces.  You’ll be sent the sticker appropriate to your vehicle once you apply.

There are six in total, numbered and colour coded as follows:

VEHICLE CLASSES

Green (unnumbered) 100% electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Purple (1; euro 5/6) Electric/petrol hybrid vehicles / petrol cars built since January 2011

Yellow (2; euro 4) Diesel vehicles built since January 2011

Petrol cars built between 1^st Jan 2006 and 31^st Dec 2010.

Orange (3; euro 2/3) Diesel vehicles built from 1^st Jan 2006 to 31^st Dec 2010

Petrol cars built from 1^st Jan 1997 to 31^st Dec 2005.

Red (4; euro 3) Diesel vehicles built from 1^st Jan 2001 to 31^st Dec 2005

Grey (5; euro 2) Diesel vehicles built from 1^st Jan 1997 to 31^st Dec 2000

Vehicles classed as Euro 1 (manufactured prior to 1^st January 1997) cannot be certified, since they fall into the most polluting class.  

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

To find out which class your vehicle sits within and purchase your vignette, you’ll need to visit the application website here.  You’ll need to provide the following mandatory information:

• Vehicle Type (Private Car, Light Commercial Vehicle, Motorcycle, Moped, Heavy Goods Vehicle
• Energy Source (Electric, Hydrogen, Petrol, Diesel, Natural Gas, Hybrid)
• Registration Certificate – you’ll be asked to attach a PDF or JPEG
• Registration Date and Date of First Registration (for second-hand vehicles)
• Registration Number
• Certificate Issuing Country
• Make of Vehicle
• You can also input a “commercial description” of the vehicle and an indication of which emission category you think it fits within, but these fields are optional
• You will have to pay the fee of €3.11 plus postage.

You can order the certificates and find all the information you need here.