In the aftermath of the deputies’ vote in favor of The abolition of “low -emission zones” (ZFE)usually opposite voices come together. Introduced into a committee on the initiative of LR and RN, the abolition of low-emission zones (ZFE) was adopted by 98 votes against 51, with those of the RN-UDR alliance, the right, LFI and some macronists. Ecologists and socialists have largely voted against, like some MoDem and Horizons deputies.
The ZFEs restrict the circulation of certain thermal vehicles, by adopting an article in the “simplification” bill. These areas are aimed at reduce The oldest vehicles in metropolises, in order to limit air pollution.
A “two -speed France,” said Tabarot
The government was opposed to the abolition, offering without success a compromise. “Air pollution is at the origin of nearly 40,000 premature deaths per year (…) and the low-emission zones have contributed to lower these early deaths,” defended the macronist minister of the ecological transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
“I do not cry on yesterday’s vote (Wednesday) ”, Reacted against the Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot, interviewed this Thursday morning on CNews. He praised the need to combat air pollution, but “with common sense measures”. Philippe Tabarot considered that the text could create “a two -speed France”, urban against rural.
The RN greets a “victory”
Since New Caledonia, Marine Le Pen has praised “an immense victory”, which she considers creator of “a social apartheid at the expense of the weakest French”. Sébastien Chenu, vice-president of the RN, welcomed him with a “stop” to a “symbol of social exclusion”.
I am delighted with the abolition of the ZFEs, it is a huge victory for the national rally which has always opposed this unfair device.
It is a fight that was waged by our deputies with pugnacity and energy, and I congratulate them! pic.twitter.com/ff271y0b4h
– Marine Le Pen (@mlp_officiel) May 29, 2025
Same story on the side of the Republicans. Laurent Wauquiez, boss of LR deputies, rented a vote to “release the French”. “Everyone is to improve air quality. (More) We believe that it cannot be done at the cost of social exclusion, ”argued in the hemicycle Ian Boucard (LR).
A “useful device” according to environmentalists
In addition to the government, environmentalists were among the rare voices to defend the text. It is “a useful device that must be expanded with support measures”, had argued in the hemicycle the ecologist Lisa Belluco.
The LFI group praised a “victory” against “an unjust device”. “LFI proposed in 2022 a moratorium on the ZFE (…) It is urgent to plan our mobility by putting real means in alternatives in public transport,” he continued in a press release. The rebellious deputy Clémence Watcht said on X that “ecology should not be done on the back of the popular classes”.
The association 40 million motorists, who denounced the ZFE, welcomed a “historic victory” in a published video on his x account.
The vote of the article must still be confirmed by that on the entire law in its entirety. Some deputies believe that the repeal of the ZFEs could be censored at the end of the race by the Constitutional Council as a legislative rider (a measure too far from the initial text).
