France Approves the Abolition of Low Emission Zones

The French National Assembly has decided to abolish Low Emission Zones in the country, arguing that they are a classist measure that particularly affects lower-income households, while those who can afford electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, which are considerably more expensive, do not suffer their impact.

The public scrutiny vote, where each deputy must publicly declare their position, concluded with 26 votes in favour, 11 against, and nine abstentions in the special committee tasked with studying the Simplification Bill.

It was mainly representatives from the National Rally (RN) and The Republicans (LR), along with deputies from Renaissance, Macron's party, who supported the removal of these Zones à Faibles Émissions (ZFE).

From Renaissance, the Ministers of Industry and Ecological Transition, Marc Ferracci and Agnès Pannier-Runacher, argued that the ZFEs were justified by their tangible effect in reducing harmful emissions such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and CO2 in places where they are already implemented, like Paris or Lyon.

However, the approval of these amendments by the special committee does not mean that the restricted zones will be immediately removed. Now, the 577 deputies must vote in favour, and subsequently, the upper house must approve for it to be definitively applied.

For now, there seems to be no consensus on the formula, as the National Rally intends for the ZFEs to be completely abolished, while The Republicans are more moderate and propose an intermediate solution, such as delaying their implementation by five years in cities required to do so by population size.

Although the decision of the French parliament was made unilaterally, low emission zones are part of a European regulation that member states must comply with. In Madrid, the government of Martínez Almeida sought to repeal the Low Emission Zone created by his predecessor, Manuela Carmena, but his initiative did not succeed precisely due to opposition from Brussels.