The future of the government’s low emission zones (zones à faibles émissions, ZFE) project is in doubt after a parliamentary committee voted against it.
Ministers now have to respond after a full session of parliament debated the matter in April but do not seem to be in any hurry to do so, meaning motorists are left in legal limbo.
Further debates by MPs on the zones, as well as another vote on the issue, is now not expected until the end of May according to one MP, as compromise on the issue is unlikely.
The Crit'Air stickers indicate how polluting a vehicle isGERARD BOTTINO / Shutterstock
What is a ZFE?
The ZFE scheme sees vehicles classified with colour-coded ‘Crit’Air’ windscreen stickers according to the amount of pollution they emit, barring the worst from city centres.
It was introduced to reduce the presence of fine particles, which health authority Santé Publique France states are responsible for respiratory diseases and 40,000 deaths per year.
Most cities, which are meant to enforce the Crit’Air rules with fines of €68 for drivers who flout them, but few have implemented this.
Many argue that they are unenforceable because radar-activated cameras, which the cities are meant to buy, are not ready, and they do not have enough municipal police officers to do the job.
But there have also been fears the scheme could cause social unrest – similar to how cutting the speed limit on country roads from 90 to 80 km/h was linked to the gilets jaunes protests of 2018.
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One of the parliamentarians who led the protest vote, Ian Boucard of Les Républicains, told French radio that he did so because the measure “is typical of ecologic punishment.”
He added: “It creates a true inequality between those who have the finances to drive a clean car and those who do not have the means to do so.
“Measures which were meant to have been put in place to help people are not in place and it is creating real social segregation.”
Drivers can apply for Crit’Air stickers online at certificat-air.gouv.fr. They cost €3.81, including postage.
ZFEs were created following threats of legal action after numerous cities were found to exceed pollution levels set by the European Union, based on World Health Organisation guidelines.
All agglomerations with populations of 150,000 people or more were told to introduce them, with the last batch of 28 agglomerations doing so in January this year.
Signs marking ZFE zones have gone up in cities such as Bordeaux, but there have been no attempts to fine motorists.
The current zones in blue and future ones in yellowMinistere de la Transition ecologique
The Basque Country left it to February to vote through the least restrictive measures possible – a ban on Crit’Air 5 vehicles, and imposed an implementation date of June 1, five months after the deadline.
Similarly in Bordeaux, Le Havre, Lille and Toulon, only Crit’Air 5 vehicles, first registered before 1997, are theoretically affected by the ZFE rules.
Bordeaux’s ecologist mayor Pierre Hurmic previously said he was against ZFE because he felt money spent on the scheme would be better used boosting public transport.
Paris and Lyon, which have persistent problems with air quality, have now banned cars with Crit’Air 3 stickers (issued to petrol cars first registered before January 2006 and diesel cars before 2011) and above, although there are exceptions.
In Paris, for example, a “pass ZFE 24h” system was introduced, which allows drivers of Crit’Air 3 cars to drive in the city for 24 work days a year, and over weekends.
A period of “educational tolerance” was announced at the start of the new ZFE restrictions in Paris, although the mairie could not confirm if this was still in force.
In Lyon, an exception is made for 52 days a year.
Toulouse said in 2023 that Crit’Air 3 cars would be allowed in the city at least until the end of 2025 because restrictions on Crit’Air 4 and Crit’Air 5 vehicles had already led to an improvement in air quality.
Political gridlock
The status of France's ZFEs were included in a wider bill on 'simplification' to daily life in France, which saw MPs vote in favour of the total suppression of the zones.
However, full discussions on the law were not finished before the Assemblée nationale split for a break, meaning no decisive measures were taken.
It does not help that the chamber is deeply divided on the issue of ZFEs, making compromise seem impossible.
Generally, MPs on the right are against ZFEs - sometimes vehemently - claiming the environmental measures are forced upon cities that do not want them, and households with a modest income cannot afford to purchase 'clean' cars exempt from the rules.
Centrist MPs and the government are mixed on the issue.
Several want to keep the zones in place, however are willing to accept some reform or ease in the measures are needed to gain wider support.
Other MPs in the centrist bloc are either for keeping them in their current format, or for scrapping them altogether. Prime minister François Bayrou falls into the latter camp, and is in favour of bringing an end to the zones.
On the left, MPs are far from unanimous on the issue, and even the Greens (as seen above) do not always agree with the measures despite the environmental ambitions.
The future of ZFEs should become clearer following the resumption of debates later this month, but until then, drivers remain in the dark over whether the zones will remain in place.
