Low-Emission Zones Abolished: French Parliament Votes to Scrap ZFEs, Right and Far-Left Claim Victory, Greens Decry Health Setback

On the evening of Wednesday, May 28, the French National Assembly voted to abolish low-emission zones (ZFE), a measure introduced in 2019 to curb the circulation of the most polluting vehicles in major urban areas. The article, added to the economic simplification bill via an amendment proposed by the Republicans (LR) and the far-right National Rally (RN), was passed by 98 votes to 51 — against the government’s advice.

The measure received backing from right-wing, far-right, far-left (La France Insoumise – LFI), and a few centrist Macron-aligned MPs. Critics have long argued that ZFEs disproportionately penalize low-income households, many of whom drive older vehicles now banned from city centers. For its opponents, the zones have become a “technocratic tool of social exclusion.”

A Political Victory for the Right and LFI

Marine Le Pen, speaking from Nouméa, hailed the vote as a blow to “punitive environmentalists.” Eric Ciotti (LR) denounced ZFEs as measures that “push middle and working-class families out of city centers.” La France Insoumise also celebrated the repeal, calling the zones “unjust” and “stigmatizing” toward the country’s most vulnerable. MP Clémence Guetté argued that “environmental policy must not come at the expense of working-class communities” and called for a moratorium tied to expanded public transport services.

Drivers’ advocacy group 40 Millions d’Automobilistes welcomed the decision as “a victory over a discriminatory and anti-social measure.”

Government Overruled

The government had proposed a compromise to allow local authorities to implement ZFEs voluntarily — with exceptions for Paris and Lyon — but this was rejected. A spokesperson for Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher criticized the rushed process and expressed regret that “left-wing MPs helped dismantle a system designed to protect vulnerable citizens.”

Final Adoption Still Uncertain

Although the article has been approved for now, its future hinges on the final vote on the full bill, which still faces more than 600 amendments. A joint committee of senators and MPs will then have to reconcile the different versions.

Environmentalists condemned the repeal as a major setback. MP Lisa Belluco (Green Party) said on BFMTV: “If you tell people overnight they can’t drive without offering any alternatives, you’re setting the policy up to fail.” In the Senate, Green spokesperson Anne Souyris warned of deadly consequences: “Scrapping ZFEs is also sentencing hundreds of thousands of air pollution victims to death.”

Some MPs are already concerned the Constitutional Council may strike down the repeal as a “legislative rider” — a measure considered unrelated to the original intent of the economic bill.