French MPs and Senators agree to scrap low-emission ZFE zones

A ban on France’s low-emission zones is one step closer to implementation after 14 MPs and Senators in a mixed committee approved the measure’s inclusion in a bill. 

The committee, discussing France’s 2025 ‘simplification bill’ agreed on keeping the measure to eliminate Zones à faible emissions (ZFEs or low-emission zones) in the final version of the text.

Such zones are currently in place in more than 20 areas across the country. 

The committee voted 10 - 4 on Tuesday (January 20) to retain the ban in the text, with proposals of alternative measures that would allow local authorities greater autonomy over the zones being rejected.

Two further votes by the Assemblée nationale and Senate are now needed to definitively pass the bill. These are scheduled on January 27 and 29 respectively.

Even if these votes do pass the bill, which is not a certainty, the zones may remain in place due to opposition to their removal from the government, local authorities, environmentalists, and also the EU. 

France’s Constitutional Council may intervene and remove measures relating to ZFEs for being too far removed from the bill, known as a ‘legislative rider’ (cavalier législatif).

The text originally focused on ‘simplifying’ daily life through improved administration efficiency, services for local areas, and payslip changes.

The EU may also intervene, and it could see France lose billions in EU subsidies if banning the zones is deemed to be France reneging on eco-targets.

It means it could be many months before the zones are removed, if they are at all. 

Drivers will need to use Crit’Air stickers when passing through the zones, and restrictions on certain vehicles – specific to each zone – still apply. 

Bill criticised despite MP approval

The simplification bill was narrowly passed in May 2025 in the Assemblée nationale by 275 votes to 252 on its first reading, despite opposition from both the government and left-wing MPs.

This reading included amendments on several issues brought forward by right-wing MPs, including on ZFEs.

The future of the low-emission zones was one of several criticised for being too expansive and relating to topics too far removed from the original aim of the bill. 

Plans to move the bill onwards stalled due to the fall of the Bayrou government in September 2025, meaning the mixed committee only recently came together to adopt the final version of the text to be brought forward later this month.

Other measures included in the current iteration of the text include rules intended to end the legal issues surrounding both work on the A69 motorway and new data centres across the country.

This further widening of the bill has led critics again to argue that it has lost its original value and become more of a ‘catch-all’.

‘Blackmail’, ‘unacceptable measure’

Following the commission’s agreement however, final votes can take place next week.

Right-wing and far-right MPs are expected to back the bill, which they say is being eagerly awaited by small businesses due to its aims at improving daily conditions for owners.

Right-wing politicians remained steadfast in including the measure despite its controversy

“We were subjected to a lot of blackmail, told that the conclusions of the [mixed committee] would not be included if plans to abolish ZFEs remained,” said Les Républicains Senator Rémy Pointereau to AFP. 

Far-right MP Marine Le Pen likewise called the bill a ‘victory’, enthusiastically backing its measures including the retention of ZFE bans. 

Proponents say that removing the zones would simplify life for drivers, who would not need to use Crit’Air stickers or check rules each time they pass through a ZFE.

They also argue that the restrictions in place in certain zones limit drivers on lower incomes, who are faced with purchasing a ‘greener’ but more expensive vehicle or being effectively banned from driving in some parts of the country.

The zones have had a complex history in France, and despite rules stating that all urban areas with a population of 150,000 should have one in place, several cities are yet to do so. 

Defenders of the zones – including ecologists and the government – argue the restrictive measures are vital to improving public health, and in the long-run save lives and money. 

“We will continue to fight [to retain ZFEs], taking all necessary measures and using all available tools,” said deputy mayor of Paris and Ecologist member David Belliard to media outlet RMC, and called the committee’s vote “unacceptable.”

Mr Belliard criticised the current implementation of the zone as ‘“not perfect… These low-emission zones pose numerous problems, particularly because the poorest citizens haven't been supported in acquiring less polluting vehicles.”

However, they are needed precisely because pollution “kills thousands of people in this country, and nobody talks about it.”

“This vote was made to protect the poorest, but today, pollution is killing the poorest first, those who live near highways and the most polluted areas.” 

He also criticised the bill for taking autonomy away from local authorities.

“Local authorities are approached when money is needed, when social welfare policies are required, but when we try to implement public health policies, our tools are taken away,” Mr Belliard said.