ZFE Grand Paris: Towards a second delay until the end of 2024?

For several weeks now, the debate has been raging in France over the “anti-social” aspect of Low Emission Zones. The Greater Paris elected officials are also fighting over a new postponement of the LEZ.

The issue is highly political: beyond the right-left-center opposition, the rivalries between Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Île-de-France Regional President Valérie Pécresse are also very present in the LEZ debate, as is the social dimension.

Low Emission Zones aim to restrict access to certain parts of a territory—in this case the Greater Paris metropolis—to a category of old vehicles considered too polluting, defined by their Crit’Air sticker.

A decision has already been made to postpone the implementation of this LEZ from July 2022 to July 2023, with the scope including the exclusion of private vehicles displaying a Crit’Air 3 sticker from Paris and its inner suburbs (inside the ring formed by the A86 motorway). Since the Île-de-France Region has the authority for such a delay, verbal exchanges are frequent between a Paris Mayor wishing to cut the number of cars in her city by half again, and a Regional President (whose GDP exceeds that of Portugal) concerned with economic and social interests.

“It is neither socially possible nor acceptable to consider the exclusion of Crit’Air 3 vehicles starting July 2023 for individuals,” said Valérie Pécresse at the regional council, highlighting the financial cost for individuals replacing their cars. While she requests a second 18-month delay for the LEZ’s activation, Madame Pécresse believes that the schedule for professionals should not be changed. “This high-emission zone should not turn into an area of intense exclusion, risking to deepen territorial and social fractures.”

While Madame Hidalgo has promised to phase out diesel vehicles from the capital by 2024 and all thermal vehicles by 2030, adherence to these schedules remains quite uncertain. Even more so when public transportation has been failing since the Covid-19 crisis, and a vote on the banning of free-floating scooters will be held this Sunday, April 2, 2023.

READ ALSO: Toward a postponement of the Crit’Air 3 ban within the Greater Paris LEZ?