Better Bureaucracy

Like most people, both ex-pats and locals, I find that the state in France intrudes too much into my life and is generally unhelpful.  However, having now successfully transferred both our cars onto French plates there are signs that the central government's modernisation programme may be helping to reduce the power of individual functionaries who make up the rules as they go along.

Our local prefecture in Blois has one young man who is responsible for granting you a French registration document (Carte Grise).  The first time we went to him, he sent us off as we needed to get a Quitus Fiscal.  Having got that, we then did some research and found that we also needed a Certificate of Conformity, which he hadn't mentioned.  It is quite clear that the intention was that we would return to the prefecture and be sent away.

Never mind though, we waited weeks to get the Certificate of Conformity and went back to Blois with all of our papers in order to get a provisional registration certificate.  Ahh, he said after taking all of the information off the Certificate of Conformity and issuing the provisional registration certificate, it is in English so you need to get it translated by an authorised translator for the full registration document. 

Knowing that this wasn't really needed we took the documents, including the newly granted Controle Technique, to Tours where, other than the three hour queue to be served, there was no problem with any of the documentation and we were given our Carte Grise there and then.

Now for car number two; we'd been through the process once so we knew what we were up against.  Back to Blois (it's much closer than Tours) and up to the booth where the young man makes his pronouncements.  One by one to his chagrin we peeled off the documents.  We were smiling inside thinking that there was no way he could refuse to issue the Carte Grise.  Oh, how foolish we felt when he got to the Certificate of Conformity.  It's in English he says, but that's fine it doesn't need to be translated, but it can't be a duplicate.  But we pointed out, this is what Saab sent.  Maybe in England, but not in France was the response.

Dejected and cowed, we beat a retreat knowing that we had been bested by the gatekeeper.  However, we set off to Tours again.  And again, no problem at all.

So, the brilliance of the modernised regime is that while there may still be parochial little functionaries making up the rules as they go along with the sole intention of making the public's lives as miserable as their own, you can now beat them by bypassing them.  Impeccable!