France used to register boats twice: a carte de circulation and, for larger boats, an acte de francisation from customs. The Var prefecture's maritime office says that since 1 January 2022 both have been replaced by one document, the certificat d'enregistrement, sent as a signed PDF. Older boats' paperwork and older articles still say francisation, and people still search for it.
What a surveyor checks
That the certificate matches the boat: name, CIN hull number, engines and their serial numbers and power. A change of owner is made online on demarches-plaisance.gouv.fr. The buyer must be an EU or EEA national with an elected domicile in France, per the Var office.
In the report
"Certificat d'enregistrement in the seller's name; engine serial numbers match. Port engine power differs from the certificate: have the record corrected at the change of ownership."