Le Figaro Bordeaux
For opponents, all means are good to try to slow down the Grand Sud-Ouest railway project (GPSO), a multi-billion euro project which plans to connect Toulouse and Bordeaux by TGV.
The financing of this major railway project is based in part on a special equipment tax (TSE), to which the inhabitants of 2,340 municipalities located less than 60 minutes by car from a future station served by this train are subject.
Financing which could be unconstitutional according to the project's detractors.
After raising this possibility during its general meeting in November, the Très Grande Vigilance association in Albret, in Lot-et-Garonne, decided to file an appeal against the GPSO project, attaching it to a priority question of constitutionality (QPC).
This mechanism makes it possible to examine the conformity or otherwise of a law with the Constitution, before being able to rule on the application of the law in a specific case.
However, several steps must be taken before the Sages are seized.
The Great South-West Rail Project
Debated since 2005, the GPSO plans to facilitate trade at the local, interregional, national and international level by developing a high-speed axis between Toulouse and Bordeaux then between Bordeaux and Spain via Dax and Bayonne.
Costed at 14.3 billion euros, this monumental project benefits from the support of the European Union and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions.
Locally, however, voices are being heard to criticize its impact on ecosystems, and in particular the artificialization of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and natural spaces, as well as its cost, at a time when investments are deemed necessary. to make
“daily trains”
more efficient .
Local opposition but national support
Opponents ask the Constitutional Council to clarify whether
“the application of local taxes resulting from the 2023 finance law complies with the principle of equality before the law guaranteed by the Constitution”
, because the GPSO project is deemed to be national in scope.
Taxing only certain taxpayers for a project that will benefit all citizens appears problematic to them.
In the event that this QPC results in making this financial provision unconstitutional, it would be bad news for the financing of the project.
“If these local taxes are declared unconstitutional, this would cancel a large part of the financing allocated to the GPSO company to launch this project, which would call into question the financing plan
,” estimates the TGV en Albret association in a letter sent to its members.
93% negative opinions against GPSO
The GPSO project, although highly criticized locally, nevertheless benefits from state support.
On March 13, the Minister of Transport Patrice Vergriete was received by the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, a fierce opponent of this project.
“The minister indicated that it was a “coup” difficult to stop while recalling the priority he wishes to give to rail services to small and medium-sized towns
,” explains the town hall in a press release.
The environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux declares that the GPSO is
“a project of the past”
.
The construction site
“would occupy 4,830 hectares of natural, agricultural and forest land”
, and would be
“in contradiction with the imperatives of the climate challenge”
presented by Emmanuel Macron in 2022 as
“the fight of the century”
.
It also received 93% negative opinions as part of a public inquiry and eight Girondin parliamentarians from all sides are opposed to it.