As part of a wide update of legislation in France to crack down on drug trafficking Loi n° 2025-532 du 13 juin 2025 was published in the Official Journal on 14 June 2025
Article L.232-9 (created by Chapter II bis, “Recueil des données relatives aux navires de plaisance”) establishes a new system for collecting data on pleasure craft (private leisure vessels) entering certain ports. Key points of this provision include:
- Purpose: The measure is aimed at preventing and prosecuting terrorism, organized crime, and smuggling (including drug trafficking) by monitoring pleasure boats that arrive from outside local waters. It facilitates the detection of related offenses and the gathering of evidence against their perpetrators.
- Data Collection Obligation: Port authorities or officials with port police powers are required to collect identifying information for pleasure vessels whose home port is elsewhere. This includes data identifying the vessel, its owner, the persons on board, and the vessel’s itinerary. The intent is to track pleasure boats that could potentially be used in illicit activities (e.g. trafficking).
- Data Transmission: The collected information must be transmitted to designated State security services responsible for preventing and repressing the offenses in question. In other words, port authorities will funnel pleasure-craft identification data to law enforcement and anti-terrorism agencies.
- Designation of Affected Ports: Not all ports are automatically subject to this obligation. A joint ministerial order (arrêté) by the Minister of the Interior and the Minister in charge of ports will specify which ports must implement this pleasure-boat data collection system. Only the ports listed in that order will be required to collect and forward pleasure craft data under Article L.232-9.
- Implementing Decree: The law mandates a decree of the Conseil d’État (a government regulation) to lay out the details of implementation. This decree will define what data are collected, how they are transmitted, and which State services receive them. It will also set the procedure for port authorities to verify the identities of the persons concerned (e.g. checking IDs of boat owners/passengers). These specifics are left to regulation to ensure the system is practical and respects legal standards (such as data protection).
- Sanctions for Non-Compliance: Article L.232-9 includes enforcement mechanisms. If a port authority fails to fulfill its obligations (e.g. does not collect or transmit the required data), it may incur an administrative fine under Article L.232-5 of the code. Article L.232-5 (in the same code) provides a procedure for issuing fines to operators who don’t comply with security data requirements. Moreover, if a port authority repeatedly or habitually violates this duty, the offense is escalated to a criminal level, punishable by up to 2 years of imprisonment and a €30,000 fine. This stringent penalty is designed to ensure ports take the data collection duty seriously.
- Data Retention and Scope: Personal data gathered under this article can be kept for up to five years maximum. This retention limit aims to balance investigative utility with privacy concerns. Finally, Article L.232-9 does not apply to certain vessels covered by existing law – specifically, it excludes vessels already subject to Article L.232-7-1 of the Code de la sécurité intérieure. (Article L.232-7-1 pertains to other maritime data collection, likely involving commercial passenger ships or international transport, so pleasure craft falling under that regime are exempt from the new rules to avoid duplication.)
Publication and Effective Date
Article L.232-9 was introduced by Law no. 2025-532 of 13 June 2025, titled “loi visant à sortir la France du piège du narcotrafic,” which included this provision among broader anti-narcotics and security measures. This law was officially published in the Journal Officiel on 14 June 2025. Being a statute without a specific deferred commencement date, it entered into force under the general rule — i.e., the day after its publication (15 June 2025).
However, although Article L.232-9 became part of the Code de la sécurité intérieure in June 2025, its effective operation is contingent on implementing measures. French law stipulates that when a legislative provision requires further regulatory action to be operational, the provision’s application is suspended until those implementing rules are in place. In the case of Article L.232-9, the law itself calls for a Council of State decree and a ministerial order before the data collection system can function. This means that legally the article exists and is in force as of mid-2025, but practically authorities cannot enforce it until the necessary decree and port designations have been adopted. In summary: the official effective date was June 15, 2025, but the article’s measures will only take effect in practice once the required decree and order are enacted.
Timeline for Implementation
When must authorities and stakeholders begin to comply? The law does not set a fixed calendar date, so the timeline is driven by the issuance of the implementing texts (the decree and the joint ministerial order). Based on the legislative framework and typical administrative practice, the timeline is as follows:
Late 2025 (Expected Decree and Order): The government generally aims to issue necessary decrees within about six months of a law’s publication. Indeed, official guidance (Prime Minister’s circulars) expects all regulatory measures to be taken in the half-year following promulgation. If this timetable is followed, the Council of State decree and the joint ministerial order should be published by the end of 2025. Those texts will officially activate the Article L.232-9 mechanism by detailing the data to be collected, the recipient agencies, and naming the ports that must comply.
Early 2026 (Application Begins): Once the implementing decree and the port list order come into force (typically they take effect upon publication or a specified date therein), port authorities at the designated ports must start collecting and forwarding pleasure-craft data. Other stakeholders – primarily pleasure boat owners or operators arriving at those ports – will in practice have to provide identification information to the port authorities as part of the new requirements. We can anticipate that in early 2026 the system will become operational, and ports will begin applying the new data collection measures.
Stakeholders are advised to be prepared for compliance no later than mid-2026, if not sooner, given the government’s commitment to prompt application of laws.
Opposition to the new obligation: In June 2025, the La Rochelle marina publicly opposed a new provision of France’s April 29 anti-narcotics law that requires marinas to collect and transmit detailed information on visiting yachts, their owners, passengers, and itineraries. The port’s board argued that such a measure is unworkable, since marina staff are not police officers and lack the legal authority, systems, and manpower to carry out border-control duties. Unlike air travel, yachting does not involve advance bookings, and stopovers are often spontaneous, making systematic data collection impractical. With up to 100 daily arrivals in high season and no dedicated software, the regulation would impose a disproportionate administrative and legal burden on local port teams, exposing managers to criminal liability for obligations they cannot realistically meet.
Beyond these operational concerns, La Rochelle denounced the law as a threat to maritime freedom and criticised the absence of consultation with marina federations, yacht owners, or coastal officials. The port emphasised that it supports the fight against illicit trafficking but insists that enforcement must remain the responsibility of competent state services, not private port operators. It is calling for suspension of the law’s implementing decrees, a proper dialogue with stakeholders, and strengthened state-led controls at sea and in ports. The dispute reflects wider tensions between national security measures and the preservation of local governance, economic activity, and the traditional freedom of movement central to yachting.
Conclusion
France’s new data collection law for pleasure boats represents a significant shift in the landscape of maritime security policy. While the measure is clearly aimed at enhancing national security and disrupting illicit trafficking routes, it also raises substantial concerns related to operational feasibility, administrative burden, and civil liberties, particularly for private ports and marinas unaccustomed to fulfilling law enforcement roles.
Yes, France is following an established regional trend, collecting data on incoming yachts is already standard practice in much of the Mediterranean, especially for vessels arriving from outside the Schengen Area. However, the French system stands out for its broader scope, centralized data handling, and security-driven focus, which go beyond standard customs and immigration controls. It also introduces stricter penalties and extends obligations to EU-flagged vessels at certain designated ports, an approach that could significantly impact day-to-day port operations.
This initiative may signal a wider tightening of maritime security protocols across the region, with France potentially setting a precedent that could shape future regulatory frameworks in neighboring countries.
Until the implementing decree and ministerial order are issued, the law remains dormant in practice. Nonetheless, stakeholders, particularly port authorities, marina managers, and yacht operators, should begin preparing nowfor full compliance by early 2026. Proactive planning will be key to managing the transition and ensuring operational readiness when enforcement begins.
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