France has publicly opposed the approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Supervised system in its current form, complicating the company’s attempt to secure EU-wide recognition for its most advanced driver-assistance software.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the technology offers progress, but the remaining safety risks remain too significant. His comments mark the first open rejection by a major EU member state of the provisional approval granted by the Dutch vehicle authority RDW.

Special European exemption procedure

The Netherlands authorized FSD Supervised in April under a special European exemption procedure for new technologies. Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, and Lithuania subsequently recognized that approval, allowing the system to be used on public roads in those countries. The RDW then asked the European Commission for wider recognition across the EU.

Tesla’s system can control acceleration, braking, steering, lane changes, roundabouts, and intersections, but it remains a Level 2 driver-assistance system. The driver must monitor the road and be ready to intervene at all times. Tesla itself stresses that the car is not autonomous.

France’s objections focus mainly on speed control and driver supervision. According to Tabarot, the software may, in some cases, exceed the legal speed limit, including situations where a vehicle could drive 70 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.

French authorities are also not convinced that Tesla’s camera-based driver monitoring system consistently ensures sufficient attention in complex traffic conditions.

Tesla allows drivers to activate a fixed speed offset or a so-called contextual maximum speed. Once enabled, the car can adapt its speed to surrounding traffic and road conditions. Critics argue that this risks normalizing speeding, even though the driver remains legally responsible.

Musk: “Delaying costs lives”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted sharply, saying that delaying approval would “cost lives”. Tesla has repeatedly argued that its technology reduces accidents compared with human driving. European regulators, however, have questioned some of the company’s safety comparisons and are relying on their own tests and data.

France cannot block EU approval on its own, but its opposition carries considerable political weight. An implementing decision requires the support of a qualified majority of member states representing at least 65% of the EU population.

Sweden has also raised concerns about the possibility that the system could exceed speed limits, while several northern European countries have questioned its winter performance and the clarity of the Full Self-Driving name.

The dispute could therefore lead to delayed or conditional approval rather than a simple rejection. Tesla may be required to introduce a stricter European version with a hard limit at the legal speed, stronger driver-monitoring requirements, more local testing, and detailed reporting of interventions and incidents.

Politically sensitive in Belgium

For Belgium, and Flanders in particular, the French position is politically sensitive. Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder recognized the Dutch exemption despite reported warnings from her own administration.

The Department of Mobility and Public Works reportedly warned that only three vehicles had completed around 5,000 kilometers of testing in Belgium in less than three weeks.

During those tests, the system allegedly struggled with Belgian road signs, lane markings, and railway crossings, leading to traffic-rule violations and driver interventions. The department also questioned whether ordinary, untrained customers would react correctly when the system suddenly required them to take control.

De Ridder nevertheless argued that the much larger Dutch test program offered sufficient reassurance. France is now raising concerns similar to those expressed by the Flemish administration, increasing pressure on the minister to publish Belgian intervention data and justify the rapid recognition.

Nothing changes immediately for Belgian Tesla owners. FSD Supervised can still be used in Belgium under the provisional approval, while the software is restricted when the car enters a country where it is not authorized, such as France.

If the European Commission rejects the Dutch request, the provisional approvals could eventually have to be withdrawn. If the system is approved, France would also have to accept it, although the final conditions may be far stricter than Tesla envisaged.

The debate goes beyond Tesla. It will help determine how Europe treats AI-based driving systems that perform most of the driving tasks while leaving full legal responsibility with the human driver. France’s intervention has made a rapid and uncontested European rollout far less likely.