Low emission zones (ZFE), which limit the access of some large cities to various categories of polluting vehicles, have been “successfully” implemented in six European countries, which is an “encouragement” for France, says a report public on Friday. Titled “Lessons to be learned from the experience of European countries”, this report by former Renaissance MP Barbara Pompili studies the EPZs created in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Spain, as well as in Italy, for vehicles of passengers and heavy goods. vehicles.
In these countries, a set of EPZs have been “successfully implemented and have been well accepted,” the report notes, citing those in Amsterdam and Madrid, where, to be able to circulate, private vehicles must comply at least with the Euro 4 standard ( gasoline and diesel put into service between 2006 and 2010), “that is, the Crit’Air 2 and 3”. And those “from London, Brussels, Stuttgart and Milan, where the current minimum standard for private vehicles is Euro 5 or Euro 6 (vehicles after 2011, i.e. Crit’Air 1 and 2).”
“These examples illustrate the feasibility of the French legal requirement to establish for light diesel vehicles the minimum standard Euro 4 in 2024 and Euro 5 in 2025, in the EPZs of cities where air quality standards are not regularly respected,” underlines the report. , referring to Paris, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Rouen and Strasbourg.
These European EPZs are also proving their value in improving air quality, such as in London, where authorities recorded “a 23% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) concentrations.”
Strengthen aid
To be well accepted, an EPZ must first “be perceived as useful”, the report continues, for which public information and prior consultation play an “essential” role. Households and businesses should also not “feel hindered in their mobility” and the EPZ should be part of “a comprehensive approach that includes the development of public transport, cycling and mobility services.”
At a financial level, the report recommends reinforcing aid to residents of the five urban areas that exceed the pollution limit values, and to companies near the perimeter of the ZFE. The mission also proposes to promote the transformation of a vehicle into a plug-in hybrid and considers the implementation of automated control by cameras to be “essential.” Finally, it recommends creating a single window “for the management of aid” and a mobility advisory service for households.
Source: BFM TV
