The special commission responsible for studying the “simplification” bill voted, this Wednesday, March 26, the abolition of “low -emission zones” (ZFE), supposed to push motorists to buy less polluting vehicles, but decried by certain policies which accuse them of penalizing the most modest households.
The deputies adopted, against the opinion of the government, identical amendments of LR and the national rally, with certain voices of macronist groups, horizons and independents of Liot, and the abstention of several left -wing deputies.
Initiated in 2019 and extended in 2021, these ZFEs display the objective of improving air quality and limiting emissions from fine particles, responsible for respiratory diseases and 40,000 deaths per year according to Public Health France. A “laudable (but) ZFE objective to exacerbate social inequalities by penalizing modest income households (…) forced to choose between significant additional costs to buy a new clean vehicle or give up moving,” criticized Ian Boucard (republican right) in the name of his group.
“Territorial separatism”
“They are useless to improve air quality and create a strong social injury, territorial separatism,” said Pierre Meurin (RN) also author of an amendment. “A certain number of experiences, in particular abroad, have shown that the ZFEs had an effect (…) on the reduction of emissions,” said the Minister of Industry and Energy Marc Ferracci, calling for “having assessments” before legislating.
The ecologist Charles Fournier recognized him that “the way of implementing the ZFE does not work”. But he called not to make the Simplification law an end law of the environment code, while deputies adopted other measures softening zero net artificialization or the construction of major infrastructure projects.
“The ZFEs have been developed without any development of effective alternatives to the individual car,” said Sandrine Nosbé (LFI), who abstained like other deputies from her group, the ex-insoumis Hendrik Davi (environmental group), or the socialist Mélanie Thomin.
Earlier, the deputies adopted another important article in the text which aims to simplify the deployment of data centers in the territory but which, in its amended version, would also allow more “infrastructure” projects to benefit from an advantageous regime of “major national interest”.
LS also validated an amendment reinforcing the possibilities of conferring on projects a “imperative reason for major public interest”, a concept at the heart of a recent court decision hosting the A69 motorway in the Tarn. The deputies also adopted amendments to loosen the constraints of communities on the artificialization of soils (ZAN).