Carnet De Passage (CDP)- Taking your motorbike/scooter to Europe.

[daveclare]

Hi All,

We're planning a trip around Europe and as usual will be taking the scooter in the MH garage. There are a number of articles in the press about French customs possibly applying their own interpretation of the rules and demanding CDP's if a scooter/motorbike is either on a trailer, in a van.

We're keen to find out from those who've taken their scooter/motorbike through France, since Brexit, what their experience has been. Are the French demanding CDP's? Are they checking MH garages to see if scooters/motorbikes are present? Has anyone been fined for not having a CDP?

Many Thanks
Dave.

 

[David and Sally]

There is an article on this in Ride magazine's legal section. A carnet can cost £300+ apparently. It seems only the French are taking any interest in carnets but that's probably a bit of payback maybe?

Good on you for checking and asking.

 

[daveclare]

Thanks. The Ride article prompted my post. Always better to get the experiences of those who've gone before!

 

[David and Sally]

Thanks. The Ride article prompted my post. Always better to get the experiences of those who've gone before!

Yes, appreciate you want actual experiences.

 

[Fulham Dave]

Hi Dave and Clare,

We are in France for the past 4 weeks towing our Peugeot Metropolis in a trailer (see pic)

The French authorities have shown no interest in the contents of van or trailer in the time we have been here.

We just made sure we had green card for van, bike and trailer before we left blighty.

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[Spriddler]

Could it be that the French are taking smug delight in deliberately leaving us in a quandary about several of the new rules rather than clearly and consistently applying them?

 

[Chilcote]

We travel with a scooter in the garage and as I understand it as long as it is road legal and has a V5 in your name together with an insurance certificate in your name you are covered.

 

[Clipgate]

I use this company, it's a pain however if challenged and most likely it will be at a point of another stressful situation, accident etc.
I did before we jointed the union, now a big step back again.
Each of use needs to makes a value judgement, I am not preaching to anyone else.

ATA Carnets For The EU (Europe) | Dynamic Dox

The ATA carnet system is in place for temporary exports to the EU. Our team supply carnets and advise on their use, for straightforward border movement.

www.ata-carnet.uk

 

[eurajohn]

Anyone old enough i.e. pre UK's joining EU and moving bikes ( or other vehicles other than the registered one you are travelling in) around Europe will remember that it was compulsory to have a Carnet de passage, which was checked at port of entry and then every border crossing point, added hours to every journey and cost not inconsiderable amounts.
Those days I was racing motorcycles around Europe and the RAC used to have a scheme for non professional competitors to supply the bare minimum of documentation at a much reduced cost when compared with a Government department one, it was still necessary to obtain a bank guarantee to cover the bond.
You had to list all your spares and tools as well, so you'd better hope that don't require that as well, free movement no more.
Just another little benefit for those that wanted out.
I'm guessing that the rules that were in place then are still relevant now, so perhaps why this has raised its head, in those days France and Belgium were pretty lapse but Germany and beyond were a nightmare.

 

[Chilcote]

I agree with your comments about how it used to be.
These days we travel into Europe with a road registered race car in a covered trailer and a scooter in the motorhome garage. I checked the current requirements with the largest vehicle movement company in the UK who also issue Carnets. Their advice was as long as everything (race car, scooter and motorhome) is road registered and has a V5 and insurance certificate in the name of the motorhome owner/driver no carnet is required.

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[Spriddler]

Yep, before we joined the Common Market I was an export salesman carrying electronic products samples and had to list every item with their serial numbers on a carnet which was presented to customs who visually checked all items on leaving and upon returning to ensure that they weren't sold whilst away.
Mind you, I did sell some items so took duplicate serial number tags as the customs people couldn't tell the difference between the original equipment and the customer's worthless old one that I brought back, once I'd affixed the duplicate serial number tag.

 

[Chrisvh]

Could it be that the French are taking smug delight in deliberately leaving us in a quandary about several of the new rules rather than clearly and consistently applying them?

Possibly a whole department at the DDGDI has been tasked with finding ways to remind the Rosbifs of the error of their ways.

 

[deleted79651]

Possibly a whole department at the DDGDI has been tasked with finding ways to remind the Rosbifs of the error of their ways.

Or possibly the officials will just treat UK as the Third Country that leaving EU has made us ... 'I've cancelled my gym membership Direct Debit, but I still say you're being very mean, denying me the use of the pool for Tuesday Aquarobics and the Gym for Thursday Circuit Training'

Steve

 

[Chrisvh]

Or possibly the officials will just treat UK as the Third Country that leaving EU has made us ... 'I've cancelled my gym membership Direct Debit, but I still say you're being very mean, denying me the use of the pool for Tuesday Aquarobics and the Gym for Thursday Circuit Training'

Steve

Come on. Play the game. We are supposed to pretend that all this has come as a terrible shock!

 

[daveclare]

Thanks for the reply so far. Still keen to hear from anyone with experience of the current situation.

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[jongood]

We were over there a couple of weeks ago and used the scooter quite a bit without issue, lots of French not wearing gloves and no sign of breathalyzers oh the horror of it. Nobody looked in our fridge either. Its all stuff to fill column inches IMHO.

 

[Blackadder]

We travel with a scooter in the garage and as I understand it as long as it is road legal and has a V5 in your name together with an insurance certificate in your name you are covered.

That was the case before Brexit but no longer - at least until (or if) the Withdrawal Bill ever gets amended to remove such anomalies. The only question is whether the police and/or customs officials will enforce the new law. It's a bit like A-Frame towing - lots of people get away with it but if you're the one who doesn't...

 

[Vennwood]

I realise this post is a few months out of date but still relevant I guess - particularly if there are new requirements to follow. We are off to France in 3 weeks and towing our Peugeot Metropolis. Just looked up the Bennetts check list for travelling to France and it doesn't mention anything about carnet's but does mention V5, insurance, MOT, licence and Green Card. Can anyone with more recent experiences comment and bring this up to date?

 

[daveclare]

We came back November with Vespa 300 in garage. Police and Customs checked it over. Not a mention of it. They were more concerned about illegal immigrants. We just had V5, insurance, copies of them and photos of them on our phones.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[L' Hobo]

I have held a Transport Managers CPC for both HGV & PSV for many years and sometime ago I read a case concerning 'Hire & Reward' and what constitutes the need for a Operators licence on a Hire vehicle.

It stated, that 'anything carried (in a M/H garage for example) that did form part of the vehicle and it's use, must be regarded as freight'
so, if a motorcycle/scooter is carried, it must be classed as freight'

perhaps this is why there's a need for a Carnet????

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[Mousy]

We are currently in Spain after driving down and staying in France. We have a scooter in the garage and electric bikes on the back. No one has shown any interest in either, or the 3 months supply of dog food and the cheddar in the fridge.

 

[Littlewheels]

There’s definitely a general consensus the the V5 is proof enough and nobody is particularly interested anyway.

 

[RedFrame]

We travelled for two weeks around France and Germany during the first two weeks of September with an M/C on an open trailer, just took the V5, Insurance and MOT. Nobody bothered us.

It is my understanding (from Track Day Forums) that you need a Carnet if the transported vehicle is not registered to you (i.e. you are transporting the vehicle on behalf of the owner) AND/OR the transported vehicle does not have a V5.

Cheers
Red.