ZFE abolished by MPs: why the story is far from over

A new episode in a series that continues. On Tuesday, June 17, MPs adopted the bill to simplify economic life, which notably puts an end to low-emission zones (LEZs) to combat air pollution.

The Republicans and the National Rally voted hand in hand in favor of this text, which has been studied for weeks by the deputies in a completely disjointed manner.

Macron's party, for its part, has become deeply divided despite the voting instructions given by the president of the Renaissance deputies, Gabriel Attal, and Emmanuel Macron, who explained that he was "not happy" with the unravelling of the ZFEs in early June in the columns of La Provence .

Eight members of parliament from the presidential camp, almost all from the LR party, such as Éric Woerth, Constance Le Grip, and Sébastien Huyghe, voted for their removal. Other leading figures from the movement, such as former ministers Guillaume Kasbarian and Olivia Grégoire, abstained.

However, part of the government camp, like the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, called on the deputies of the common base to reject this text which called into question this public health system .

It was adopted under Emmanuel Macron in 2019 in the mobility framework law. The system, extended in 2021, aims to improve air quality at a time when air pollution kills nearly 40,000 people every year in France .

Since January 1, 2025, no privately owned diesel car registered before 2011 or gasoline before 2006—corresponding to the Crit'Air 3 sticker —may be driven in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, and Montpellier. These are the models considered to be the highest emitters of fine particles, which are particularly dangerous to health.

Other affected cities, such as Strasbourg, Aix-en-Provence-Marseille, Dijon, and Rennes, have less stringent restrictions . Only private cars registered before December 31, 1996, utility vehicles registered before September 30, 1997, and heavy goods vehicles registered before September 30, 2000, are affected in these cities.

But a section of the political class considers ZFEs a social bomb, penalizing French people who cannot afford to change their vehicle. Prime Minister François Bayrou, for example, expressed "great emotion" about the issue to Le Figaro in February.

"It's the poorest, those who don't have the means, who live far away, who are the victims," ​​the Prime Minister lamented. This prompted the right and the National Rally to abolish the ZFEs during committee debates, with the support of a few Renaissance MPs and LIOT elected officials last March and then in the chamber at the end of May.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher had, however, tried to propose a fallback solution. The Minister for Ecological Transition proposed that the ZFE ultimately only concern the Lyon and Paris metropolitan areas . She also called for the implementation of a whole battery of exceptions for local authorities who still wished to use this system.

Alas: with 275 deputies for and 252 against, Agnès Pannier-Runacher was defeated. This is all the more bitter since the number of abstainers and Renaissance deputies who voted for the abolition of the ZFEs alone represented 22 of the 23 votes needed to save them.

"This is a text that undermines what we have built over the past eight years," lamented Macronist MP Marie Lebec. The move is all the more negative given that Emmanuel Macron extensively defended his environmental record at the UN Oceans Summit in Nice in early June.

But the story is far from over. Now it's time for the Joint Committee (CMP) in the fall, a body that brings together seven MPs and seven senators who will attempt to agree on a common version. On paper, the CMP should be dominated by the right, which overwhelmingly supports the elimination of ZFEs , both in the Senate and the Assembly.

If the Joint Committee (CMP) manages to reach an agreement, Parliament will have to vote on the bill again, probably in early 2026. Could it be rejected by the Assembly at that time? One thing is certain: the president of the Macronist deputies, Gabriel Attal, is expected to put pressure on his troops to follow his voting instructions.

If Macron's party is fully elected that day, the bill has a good chance of being rejected. But it is very likely that the LR and RN will also be highly mobilized, making the bill's adoption more likely.

The final step: the passage before the Constitutional Council, which could very broadly censor the text. And for good reason: the ZFEs have nothing to do with the initial intention of this bill, which, as its title suggests, aimed to simplify economic life.

The measures include the creation of a 15-line pay slip compared to the current 50, the reduction of waiting times for insurance to reimburse a claim , and the simplification of the installation of bistros in small towns.

The Sages could therefore judge that the ZFE are "a legislative rider", the technical term for the presence of a subject in a bill which has nothing to do with the initial intention of the legislator.

In this case, the Constitutional Council would censor the end of the ZFE. The system would then be maintained in its current form.