Elimination of ZFE: an effect of strong turbulence on the right but especially on the left?

Low-emission zones (LEZs) were abolished in the National Assembly with the support of the Insoumis (Rebellious) party, which nonetheless claims to be ecologically minded. This vote is unlikely to bring the left back together.

W e didn't really need this episode to know that government solidarity within the Bayrou team was hardly more robust than a bee's wing, but the repeal of the ZFE (low emission zones), Wednesday evening at the National Assembly, provides further proof. On one side, the Macronist Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, who deplores this vote, called for by an RN MP from Gard, on the other, her LR colleague for Transport, Philippe Tabarot, who does not hide his satisfaction , his Republican colleagues having followed in the footsteps of the Le Pen group.

According to François Bayrou, presiding over the centrist movement was like steering a wheelbarrow full of frogs. At least he has the experience to lead this government, which is pulling in different directions, with no real direction other than to last as long as possible. Some Macronist MPs also voted to end the ZFEs, despite the desire of the President of the Republic and his then Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe. These zones join the list of victims of the right and the far right, hostile to any restrictive measures for the automobile and agribusiness industries.

These areas are added to the list of victims of the right and the extreme right, hostile to any restrictive measures for the automobile and agro-industry.

And what about the left? It's no secret that the Insoumis (Rebellious) have given their votes to the enemies of the ZFE (Free Zones of Urban Development), torpedoing with them a measure aimed at reducing deadly air pollution in large cities and metropolitan areas. A measure that socialists and environmentalists, on the other hand, have tried to preserve. The Macronist party was quick to denounce "populist collusion" against a measure intended to make the air more breathable.

While the left is torn apart over the possibility of organizing (or not) a primary before the presidential election and over the creation of lists (of unity or not) for the 2026 municipal elections, this blow from the Insoumis does not put a single drop of oil in the cogs. The Green mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, was hardly motivated to form an alliance with the Mélenchonist party, heavily targeted after the publication of the book "La Meute," the stab in the back of the ZFE will not put things back together.

Yet it's difficult to classify the Insoumis as anti-ecological forces. They campaign alongside Green activists on many fronts: for the end of nuclear power, against the proposed new high-speed line in the Southwest, or the construction of the A69 motorway between Toulouse and Castres, which will restart following the ruling of the Occitanie Administrative Court of Appeal.

The united left also fought the bill of the LR senator of Haute-Loire, Laurent Duplomb , reintroducing certain nicotinoids as demanded by the two main agricultural unions, the FNSEA and the Rural Coordination.

In 2022, Jean-Luc Mélenchon made ecological planning one of the pillars of his presidential campaign, an idea taken up by Emmanuel Macron and which only resulted in a general secretariat attached to Matignon, without any influence.

While it is obviously not without electoral ulterior motives, the Insoumis vote condemning the ZFEs highlights above all the difficult, if not impossible, balance between environmental and social priorities. The Mélenchonists chose the latter, believing that the ZFEs excluded the owners of cars without Crit'Air stickers, representing 900,000 vehicles (2.5% of the national fleet).

This is a direct return to the demands of the Yellow Vests, a movement whose main political supporters were, no coincidence, the National Rally (RN) and the Insoumis (Insoumis).

We know that the latter want to win back a precarious electorate, captured by the Le Pen party. The ZFE are paying the price for this strategy, which nevertheless makes reconciliation on the left more complicated.

While it may be on the same wavelength in criticizing the Macronist government which, instead of helping low-income households to equip themselves with a clean car, has sacrificed the conversion bonus and drastically reduced the ecological bonus, this may not be enough to leave united in the municipal elections.

The ongoing ZFE case could also strain relations on the left. The Council of State has already imposed financial sanctions against the state, accused of climate inaction, and Brussels will not stand idly by.

Enough to rebuild an anti-European front of Insoumis and RN against the pro-European bloc to which the Socialists and the Greens belong. Low emissions, strong convulsions.