The French Parliament voted to abolish low-emission zones, an important measure introduced during President Emmanuel Macron’s first term in office, a key measure to reduce urban pollution.
The so-called ZFES (zone missions) have been criticized for attacking people who cannot afford to make contaminated vehicles the most difficult.
A small number of lawmakers from Macron’s party joined the right and far-right opposition parties to vote 98-51, and have gradually expanded since 2019 to all French cities.
The allegations were filed by far-right national rally Pierre Moulin and supported by several motorist organizations.
But it was a personal victory for writer Alexandre Jardin. He set up a movement called Les #gueux (be food), claiming that “ecology has turned into a sport for the rich.”
“Everyone played a role in the vote. Lawmakers either vote for the end of this nightmare or they abstained,” he told Le Figaro newspaper.
“They were afraid that if they voted against the abolition of the ZFE, they would return to their constituency.”
The low-emission zone began in 2019 in 15 of France’s most polluted cities, and by the beginning of this year, it had expanded to all urban areas with a population of over 150,000 people, with cars registered before 1997.
Products produced after 1997 require a round “Crit’air” sticker to drive in a low-emission zone, and there are six categories that accommodate different types of vehicles.
The biggest restrictions apply to the most polluted cities, Paris and Lyon, as well as Montpellier and Grenoble.
They have transformed into something like lightning bolt for Macron’s opponent.
Marine Le Pen accused ZFE of “the right zone” during the presidential campaign for the 2022 national rally, and communist counterparts warned about the “social bomb.”
Laurent Waukeys, head of Congress’ right-wing Republicans, spoke about “liberating French from suffocating, punitive ecology,” and on the far left, said that Clemens Goette should not impose a green policy “on the back of the working class.”
The government not only watered the rebellion on Wednesday night, but also tried to maintain the Paris and Lyon zones. This correction was defeated by a large margin.
Green Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told MP. [that number]”.
Greens and the Socialists also voted to maintain the zone.
Green Sen. Anne Soulis told BFMTV that he “kills.” [the ZFEs] It also means killing hundreds of thousands of people,” Socialist Parliament Gerrard Resell said the vote sent a negative signal because he failed to address the reductions that had to be made to levels of air pollution.
The abolition is expected to pass the French Senate, but it must be approved by the House of Commons in June in a broader bill and approved by the French Constitutional Council, but that is not guaranteed.
