France will not authorize Tesla software for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as it currently stands, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Wednesday. The decision turns on two concrete objections: speeding behavior and driver-monitoring gaps. For Tesla owners and testers in France, that means the system can keep rolling through the ride-along program, but not as a road-legal approval.
“In France, we consider that this system brings a number of technological advances, but that the safety trade-offs are not yet sufficient to authorize it as it currently stands,” Tabarot said in a video statement on Wednesday. He also said the system can go “at 70 km/h instead of 50 if traffic is moving at that speed, and without the driver explicitly requesting it.”
Philippe Tabarot and the 50 km/h limit
Tabarot said the behavior can push a vehicle as much as “50% above the speed limit” in some cases. France’s highway code does not permit exceeding posted limits just because surrounding traffic is moving faster. That puts the dispute on a narrow legal point, not a broad debate about whether driver-assistance software can be useful.
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Article 39 and Tesla FSD in Europe
France had deferred the matter for months to the European Commission’s Article 39 review process. That process is where national regulators can slow or stop a system when the safety case has not cleared their standard. France’s move matters because it is the first major European economy to spell out specific objections in a cabinet-level statement.
The timing also matters for Tesla’s broader European push. France launched a ride-along program in late November 2025 alongside Germany and Italy, and that program has now been extended through September 30. The extension keeps the system visible on French roads even as authorization remains out of reach.
Driver attention and liability
Tabarot said the system does not guarantee an optimal level of driver attention in urban settings and during complex maneuvers such as lane changes, intersections, or roundabouts. He added that “a lapse in attention can have very serious consequences, both for people outside the vehicle and for its occupants.”
He also said that even when the driving aid is activated, the driver remains criminally liable in the event of an accident. That leaves French users with a clear practical rule: the software may assist, but the legal burden stays on the person behind the wheel.
The open question is whether Tesla will change Speed Offset or tighten driver-monitoring safeguards enough to answer France’s objections. Until then, the system has technological momentum, but not French authorization.
