Unscrupulous traders are going to get caught. The arsenal of sanctions targeting them if they do not turn off their illuminated advertisements at night will be reinforced according to a decree published Sunday in Official newspaper.
It concerns the “flat rate of fines” imposed for non-compliance with the rules regarding illuminated advertising and empowers municipal agents to issue these fines.
Applicable immediately
“By flattening the fines, we make them applicable immediately, like a speeding ticket for example,” the office of the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher explained to AFP on Sunday.
In October 2022, in a context of calls for energy sobriety, the government decreed harmonization of the rules for turning off illuminated advertisements at night, in particular requiring these devices to be turned off between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. This is to save electricity while limiting light pollution.
1,500 euros fine
Offenders already faced a fine of 1,500 euros, and 3,000 euros in the event of a repeat offense. But they had to go before a judge, which could take a long time. “To simplify, it is no longer the judge but the municipal police officers who will be able to take administrative sanctions” in the matter, indicated last October 11 Agnès Pannier-Runacher in an interview with the Ebra group media.
The decree published on Sunday also makes “disregard of the obligation to turn off illuminated advertisements during periods of peak electricity consumption” punishable by a fine of 1,500 euros.