France has declared it will not support the authorization of Tesla Inc.'s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance software for use on roads across the European Union in its current iteration, citing unresolved safety issues.
The announcement constitutes the first public refusal by any EU government to back a Dutch-led proposal that aims to approve the technology for Europe-wide deployment. In a video statement released on Wednesday, Transportation Minister Philippe Tabarot identified specific safety concerns that informed France's stance.
Tabarot said, "In France, we believe that, while this system brings a number of technological advances, the safety tradeoffs are not yet sufficient to justify authorisation in its current form." He highlighted issues tied to speeding and driver inattention as central to Paris's opposition.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is defined as a driver assistance system capable of accelerating, braking, and steering a vehicle while still requiring the human behind the wheel to remain prepared to assume control. The French statement emphasizes that, despite the technology's capabilities, the balance between its advances and its safety implications is not acceptable at present.
The decision by France introduces a clear regulatory obstacle for the Dutch-led effort to secure EU-wide approval of the FSD software. By formally opposing the proposal, the French government has positioned itself against authorizing the system in the form currently presented to regulators.
The statement from the Transportation Ministry focused on two concrete safety-related factors: the system’s handling of speeding events and the risk of driver inattention while the assistance features are engaged. Those concerns underpinned the conclusion that authorization should not be granted now.
Beyond the immediate policy position, France’s public rejection represents a notable development in the ongoing regulatory review of advanced driver assistance technologies within Europe. The French government framed its refusal not as a rejection of technological progress but as a judgment that current safety tradeoffs are not adequate to permit authorization in the system’s present form.
Summary: France has publicly opposed EU-wide approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, citing safety tradeoffs linked to speeding and driver inattention and marking the first EU government rejection of a Dutch-led authorization proposal.