"Zero net artificialisation": an agreement is emerging in parliament, according to Béchu

The text aimed at facilitating the implementation of "zero net artificialisation" (ZAN) of soils to combat urban sprawl will be examined on June 21 in the National Assembly and a parliamentary agreement is emerging, said Thursday, June 1, the Minister for Ecological Transition.

The ZAN objective - resulting from the 2021 Climate Law - aims to halve, by 2031, the rate of consumption of natural and agricultural areas compared to the previous decade, i.e. 125.000 hectares, then to stop all "net artificialization" by 2050.

But its methods of application arouse the concern of local elected officials who denounce a "rigid recentralisation" and an "arithmetic and undifferentiated application".

A bill aimed at "correcting" the text was voted on at first reading in mid-March in the Senate, but the Minister for Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu had judged that the provisions adopted opened the door "too widely" to artificialization.

"We have written a text on the ZAN, the debate will take place on June 21 in the National Assembly", declared Thursday Mr. Béchu on the sidelines of the assizes of the Association of small towns of France (APVF) which take place in Millau (Aveyron).

"There is a path that is being drawn to ensure that we ideally have before mid-July a complete applicable system, law and decree", he added.

Part of the text will be presented by decree, in particular the "nomenclature", that is to say the definition of what is a natural, agricultural or forest area, while the other part will be the subject of a legislative debate.

The deputies will discuss in particular the "rural guarantee", that is to say a minimum artificializable surface claimed by the rural municipalities, and "major projects of national scope", such as transport infrastructure. These will be "counted separately" but "counted anyway", Christophe Béchu had previously specified to the members of the APVF.

Asked by AFP, the director general of the LPO (League for the protection of birds) Matthieu Orphelin said he was “vigilant” about this agreement the day after a meeting with Mr. Béchu.

"The first loss of natural habitat is artificialization. The senators have deciphered the text and they are pushed to finish at all costs so as not to drag the subject out until the senatorial elections, but we will ensure that the total share of 125.000 hectares to be artificialized is not exceeded", declared Mr. Orphelin.