One more step towards the abolition of ZFES. The National Assembly approved on Wednesday night the end of the “low -broadcast areas”, which restricts the circulation of certain thermal vehicles, by adopting an article in the “Simplification” bill.
Started in 2019 to limit fine particle emissions, the ZFE are an emblematic measure of the weather and the resistance of the first five years of Emmanuel Macron, excluding from its perimeter certain very old and polluting vehicles, identified by critic 3 or more vignettes. But its application is criticized in all banks, even in macronistas and the left, by elected officials who consider that they exclude categories of the population that cannot buy less polluting vehicles.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher opposed the total abolition of the ZFE, remembering that “air pollution is the origin of almost 40,000 premature deaths per year (…) and the low-emission areas have contributed to reducing these early deaths.”
Another argument for ZFE defenders: the cost of his abolition is estimated at more than 3 billion euros for the State.
“Negative political signal”
In April, the Cabinet of the Ministry of Ecological Transition has already indicated that the abolition of ZFES would send “a negative political signal” that could “question the subsidies already obtained” of the European Union for its implementation. According to a treasure note cited by the context of the media, this abolition exposes France “with a refund risk of up to one billion euros.”
The Ministry also considered that the European Commission could “consider this abolition as a cancellation of commitments, which would endanger EU’s next payments” in the framework of the National Recovery and Resistance Plan (PNRR) of France. This plan allows France to receive 40.3 billion euros in European subsidies until 2026, “provided they respect certain commitments.” By 2025, France must receive 3.3 billion euros as such.
However, among the objectives shown of the PNRR, the adoption of the climatic and resilience law approved in 2021 (where the implementation of ZFES) and the completion of the studies before the implementation of ZFE in 18 agglomerations are two key objectives to claim European help. Respect for France of the objective of carrying out studies before ZFE is evaluated in Brussels, urinating a payment of community funds in 2025.
The abolition of ZFES is not yet definitive. The vote on the article must be confirmed therefore on the entire law as a whole, still mentioned by more than 600 amendments. Some deputies also believe that the repeal of the ZFE could be censored at the end of the race by the Constitutional Council as a legislative conductor (a measure too far from the initial text).
Source: BFM TV
