French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot stated that he has had constructive communication with Elon Musk regarding Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system; for months, the French side has been coordinating technical adjustments with Tesla to support France in the upcoming EU-level certification vote in the coming weeks. After Tesla provided two vehicles equipped with the system, the French side entered the road testing phase.

Tesla later clarified to the media that the system has not yet been approved, and the road testing did not just begin now. The company stated that it has been conducting road tests in France since 2024, covering over 200,000 kilometers, and has completed more than 5,000 customer ride demonstrations since December 2025. The two mass-produced vehicles were handed over to the French certification body UTAC for their first independent road evaluation, with test results aimed for mid to late September to align with the EU Motor Vehicle Technical Committee's vote. The committee meeting is reportedly scheduled for October 6, with some officials suggesting the vote could take place next month or in early December.

On July 22, Tabarot publicly stated that the existing form of approval does not provide sufficient safety guarantees. He specifically pointed out two issues: the system can exceed the speed limit while following traffic, such as going from 50 km/h to 70 km/h, with deviations of up to 50% of the speed limit, and it does not require the driver's explicit request; in urban areas, lane changes, intersections, and roundabouts, the monitoring of the driver's attention is insufficient to ensure timely takeover. He emphasized that the system is not autonomous driving. Musk responded at the time that delaying approval could cost lives.

After the Netherlands temporarily approved it in April, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, and Belgium followed suit, creating a split where five countries have approved it while France, Germany, and Italy have not. EU mutual recognition requires a qualified majority: at least 15 countries covering 65% of the population, and any opposition from France, Germany, or Italy can block it. Tesla announced that in the five European countries where it is allowed, vehicles equipped with the system had collisions at about one-quarter the rate of human driving based on over 100 million kilometers of data from April to August.

As the vote approaches, the testing serves to prepare domestic data that can be cited in opposition votes, rather than opening subscriptions to consumers. The buyer is Tesla, which seeks software revenue and the restoration of vehicle registration in Europe, while the seller is the Ministry of Transport, which has set speed limits and attention monitoring as red lines. The event is driven by the committee's schedule around October. The beneficiaries are the small countries that have approved it and Tesla's demonstration narrative, while the pressured parties are the software versions that have not yet completed the speed limit logic and UTAC, which must provide independent conclusions on the densely populated roundabout road network.

Source: Public Information