I noticed recent French plates have relegated the dept number to the corner of the plate, shame really.
New system since 18 months: 2 letters, one "-", 3 numbers, one "-", then 2 letters. And the EEU sign and a departement number
AA-123-BB (dpt#)
The departement number is at the choice of the owner, not necesserely the departement he lives in.
Unfortunately the "-" and the specified fonts for the letters and numbers avoid any funny plates, like:
I M099Y I
JE 841SE
GR05 2OB
RA88ITT
LE581AN