The 40 million motorists association is back in the fight against low emission zones (ZFE).
On Sunday, she communicated on a bill, tabled last week by RN deputy for Marne Anne-Sophie Frigout, aimed at abolishing these ZFEs.
In these areas, traffic is limited to the least polluting vehicles, identified by their Crit'Air sticker.
They have so far been rolled out gradually in eleven cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg and Nice.
By the end of 2024, they will have to be set up in all agglomerations of more than 150,000 inhabitants, provides for the Climate and Resilience law of 2021. That is 33 additional agglomerations in addition to the 11 already operational.
“
This will exclude 48% of motorists in the 47 largest French cities
”, estimates Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 million motorists.
His association warns of "
the social time bomb that is the establishment of Low Emission Zones
".
"
It's not going to go well.
It smells more than powder, there is a smell of gas.
Let's be very careful, it's going to explode
”, metaphorizes Pierre Chasseray, who claims to receive testimonies from motorists “
who no longer know what to do
”.
In particular, he says, since an EPZ has been created or extended in "
smaller metropolises
», where the supply of transport is less abundant.
He cites Reims, where a ZFE was created in September 2021, and Rouen, where it has been in force since September 1.
On the bill, the spokesperson for motorists claims to have contacted all parliamentarians.
If it was finally filed by an RN deputy, Pierre Chasseray wants to present it as "
apartan
".
He thus calls "
the elected representatives of the majority to push this proposal
".
According to its explanatory memorandum, “
there is an urgent need to remove low emission zones which are socially unjust, target middle-class households and point the finger at motorists who are not solely responsible for pollution
”.
The association pleads for a postponement
In parallel, a member of 40 million motorists attacked on the legal ground the system of Crit'Air stickers, at the base of the low emission zones.
"
His car, Crit'Air 2, meets the expectations of Crit'Air 1 in terms of polluting emissions, but not in terms of age
", explains Pierre Chasseray.
This young Parisian thus filed an appeal before the administrative court to have his vehicle reclassified as a
Crit'Air 1 sticker
.
The date of examination of this appeal is not yet known.
But the association is not in favor of a definitive abolition of the EPZs.
“
The problem of improving air quality must be taken into consideration
,” admits Pierre Chasseray.
It pushes at least for derogations, either of temporality (exclusion of weekends for example), or for compelling reasons (medical care for example).
However, its main objective remains a postponement of the implementation of EPZs, for five years - accompanied by derogations.
"
There will be 15% of cars that could no longer circulate in five years, against 48% today
," estimates Pierre Chasseray.
Read alsoGrand Paris: will the “low emission zone” save 6,600 lives a year?
Today, national derogations already exist, but are "
limited to vehicles of general interest, to vehicles of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, to holders of the CMI-S card (Mobility card inclusion mention parking) and to certain transport vehicles in common
”, replied the Ministry of Ecological Transition at the end of 2021 to a question from a deputy.
“
The authority establishing the ZFE may additionally grant individual derogations from the restriction measures
,” he added.
In addition, a draft decree, subject to public consultation until mid-September, defines the terms of derogation from the establishment of a ZFE.
It is “
discarded when it is demonstrated, at least three years out of the last five years, by measurements taken or by modeling (…) that the average annual concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are lower or equal to 10 μg/m3
”, indicates the draft decree, which has not yet been published.
