French Senate backs new €15 per passenger cruise ship tax

The motion, which forms part of the draft 2026 budget, must also be approved by the Assemblée Nationale

Thursday 04 December 2025 06:52 EST

A cruise ship docked at the port in Marseille, France (Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

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The French Senate has voted in favour of a new cruise ship tax for international visitors.

This new measure would require cruise ship passengers to pay €15 (£13) per person for every port call in France, contributing to an estimated €75m in annual revenue earmarked for the conservation of coastal areas.

Senator Jean-Marc Delia from the right-wing Republicans party tabled the measure citing the seven million tonnes of CO2 emitted by cruise ships in Europe every year, reports The Local.

French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government opposed the measure, with budget minister Amélie Montchalin alleging the “difficulty of differentiating between a cruise ship and a ferry.”

Before the new ruling can be passed into law, the Assemblée nationale must consider the motion, a decision that is expected to take place later this month.

The measure, which forms part of the overall draft 2026 budget, must also be passed.

At present, only the Senate has supported the new tax.

The proposed tax follows the “polluter pays” (pollueur-payeur) principle, which aims to transfer the cost of pollution and its prevention on to polluters, rather than those affected.

The French government tourism agency, Atout France, estimated that mainland France saw more than 3.8 million cruise passengers pass through in 2023, an increase of 13 per cent compared to 2019 (pre-Covid).

The news follows the decision by the French Riviera resort of Cannes to ban all cruise ships carrying more than 1,000 people from its harbour, a move set to take effect from 1 January 2026.

Along the coast, Nice has also capped cruise ships at 65 per year, after backtracking on earlier attempts to restrict the numbers docking in the city.

Environmental campaigners have repeatedly attacked cruise companies for pollution, waste discharge and “greenwashing”.

In 2024, Carnival cruise line was found to have emitted more CO2 in Europe the previous year than the entire city of Glasgow.

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French Senate backs new €15 per passenger cruise ship tax

The motion, which forms part of the draft 2026 budget, must also be approved by the Assemblée Nationale

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