Sunday, 6 November 2016
Sunday, 6 November 2016
We are authorised EGP instructors/examiners and “Friesland” was an authorised school with the Bureau at Dunkerque. Although our personal authorisations continue in force, now we are based in Burgundy we were required to move to come under the Bureau at Lyon. Unfortunately it proved ultimately impossible to get any response from them there, and we no longer carry out EGP training. The process is left here for information:
The first step in getting a French licence for craft over 20m (extension grande plaisance) is to get the permis fluvial - the licence for a small craft. Until recently this has involved instruction on a little motor boat and a computerised test of the CEVNI rules in French.
HOWEVER an arrêté issued 6th July 2011 has finally made it possible to obtain the French permis fluvial (for craft up to 20m) on the strength of having an ICC with inland endorsement (• but see note below). It is a slightly bureaucratic procedure. An application must be made on the correct form (see below) and sent to the Bureau Régional des Affaires Fluviales (BRAF), 123 rue de Roubaix - BP 20839, 59508 Douai cedex, France. It must include:
• The formal Demande de Délivrance application, completed and signed
• The original of the ICC held
• A VHF operator’s certificate of competence (certificat restreint de radiotéléphoniste)
• French translation of the two above documents by a sworn French translator
(this is no longer required if the ICC and VHF user’s certificate originate in the UK)
• A passport sized photo of the applicant
• A photocopy of the applicant’s passport or other identity document
• Fiscal stamps at the current rate - presently 70€
(these are available at a tabac or on-line*, NOT at a Post Office) * see link below
• A medical certificate on the appropriate official form
(signed by a French Doctor and not more than 6 months old)
• A self-addressed stamped envelope
The Demande de Délivrance and Certificat Médical forms are referenced below, together with the application for inscription as a candidate for the EGP. It can take six weeks for the application to be processed, and you can only be entered as a candidate for the extension course when you actually have the permis plaisance to hand.
Applicants for the extension grande plaisance course have to be entered onto the computer by an approved school. The course involves a certain amount of one-to-one evaluation, so has to be arranged on an individual basis once an applicant has got to the point where they can actually be entered for it. The application has to include the original permis fluvial and a copy of your ship’s registration documents.
If you wish to operate a passengerboat or hotelboat of any kind taking maximum 12 passengers you will also have to obtain an attestation spéciale passagers (ASP).
Links to the required forms:
cerfa 14683*01 Request for a certificate for a helmsman of an inland pleasure craft
(Demande de délivrance par équivalence d’un titre de conduite des bateaux de plaisance à moteur): https://www.formulaires.modernisation.gouv.fr/gf/cerfa_14683.do
cerfa 14673*01 Medical certificate for a helmsman of an inland pleasure craft
(Certificat d’Aptitude Physique des Candidats au titre de conduite des bateaux de plaisance à
moteur): https://www.formulaires.modernisation.gouv.fr/gf/cerfa_14673.do
cerfa 14680*01 Request for enrolment for an extension to the certificate for a helmsman of an inland pleasure craft
(Demande d’Inscription à une extension du permis de conduire des bateaux de plaisance à moteur): https://www.formulaires.modernisation.gouv.fr/gf/cerfa_14680.do
It is now also possible (and easy) to buy the necessary Timbres Fiscaux on line:
https://timbres.impots.gouv.fr/index.jsp
You firstly select “Acheter un timbre électronique”, and click on “Débuter l’Achat”, then “permis bateau”, and “En France”, and finally “Permis bateau : Droit de délivrance” . The present cost is 70.00€. You select “Ajouter au panier” then ”Voir mon panier”, and if it is correct enter and confirm your eMail address and make payment.
*Note: Unfortunately the VNF were pressed on the matter of equivalence and have now issued revision to their interpretation of arrêté 6 July 2011. An ICC held by a UK national is accepted as described above as equivalent to the Permis Fluvial for inland pleasure craft to 20m. A non-UK holder does not have to do the practical, but must take the computerised test of the CEVNI code. This is held at regional VNF offices and is 30 questions in French taken from a pool of 300.
EGP Certification