Challenge to ZFE: the government brings together elected officials to discuss air quality

Initiated in 2019 and expanded in 2021, the ZFEs aim to limit emissions of fine particles, responsible for respiratory illnesses and 40.000 premature deaths per year, according to Public Health France, by excluding certain vehicles based on Crit'Air stickers. But they are accused by elected officials of all stripes of penalizing low-income households.

The government is therefore rolling up its sleeves to disarm the critics. "I am particularly looking at how leasing could be partially targeted at those areas where local authorities have decided to restrict the circulation of very old vehicles," over 15 years old (diesel) or 20 years old (petrol), said Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher on Monday morning, during a visit ahead of a government meeting on the subject in the afternoon.

The debate on the future of EPZs was reopened at the end of March when an amendment to repeal them was adopted, against the government's advice, during the committee examining the bill on simplifying economic life. Work on the bill has been suspended for the time being while space is made on the legislative agenda.

"Air pollution is responsible for about nine months of life lost," the minister argued during a visit to a Parisian air quality monitoring station. And there are still "around forty urban areas" where pollution exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, which are currently stricter than those in France and Europe, she added.

But air quality is "not just about ZFEs": Monday's meeting aims to "zoom out to try to find solutions together" on this "fundamental public health issue," explained the offices of the ministers of Ecological Transition, Regional Planning and Health on Friday.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher, François Rebsamen, and Yannick Neuder will review recent data on air pollution and the health and economic impacts it causes to "put things into perspective."

Their offices point out that air quality has "significantly improved", particularly in terms of nitrogen oxides (NOX), which have decreased by 31% between 2017 and 2023, in connection with public policies implemented around the improvement of urban heating, particularly wood, but also with the development of public transport and cycle paths.

The government will then meet with elected officials from the 42 metropolitan areas affected by the ZFEs due to their regular exceedances of the fine particle thresholds recommended by the WHO.

The idea is to "listen to them and engage in constructive dialogue" around "best practices" - elected officials who have already implemented ZFEs and "do not want to go back" must speak - and to "reflect on the tools available to combat air pollution."

Regarding the ZFE, the government says it is now advocating a "very streamlined system," with an obligation only for Paris and Lyon, giving other communities the freedom to implement them or not, with an adaptation period until December 31, 2026.