Starting next year, some cars will circulate with pink license plates in France

If in 2026 you see cars passing by with pink license plates, rest assured that it will not be (a priori) a hallucination. The association of 40 million motorists has just proposed that the temporary license plates, which begin with “WW”, be now more visible, with a pink background.

460,000 vehicles in “WW”

A proposal approved by the road safety delegation, contacted by The Parisianwith entry into force scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. Therefore, we must expect to find many pink plates, with more than 460,000 vehicles circulating each year with provisional registration, waiting to obtain their registration document and, therefore, the definitive registration number. But why upgrade to those pink plates? The motorists’ association evokes a “worrying observation”, with a “current system showing its limits”.

“Difficult to distinguish from permanent plates, these temporary registrations can remain in circulation long after their validity date, causing administrative errors, unjustified fines and loss of confidence among motorists,” explains 40 million motorists in a press release.

In fact, these “WW” plates are assigned for a period of 4 to 6 months, but in the absence of a visual indicator of validity, nothing allows an inspector or a simple motorist to know if a plate is still in order.

Administrative confusion

Another problem highlighted by the association: “a limited number of combinations that makes it necessary to quickly reuse the numbers – every 14 months on average – sometimes causing situations of injustice in which one driver receives fines from another.”

“Some law-abiding drivers are forced to pay a high price for others who drive illegally. This type of dysfunction undermines confidence in the registration system and fuels a feeling of injustice,” denounces Philippe Nozière, president of 40 million motorists.

Beyond the pink background, intended to make these plates more visible to authorities, the new “WW” plate also includes an expiration date for immediate visual inspection. A “month – year” format instead of the regional identifier and department number on the right.

The European Commission has three months to veto the draft decree that the Ministry of the Interior has just sent it. However, 40 million motorists remain confident that this measure will come into force at the beginning of 2026.