‘Yellow vests’ may rise again over French Ulez plans

Rollout of low emission areas punishes the poor, say opponents, as tempers flare across the country

FRANCE faces a fresh yellow vest-style motorists’ revolt if it sticks to plans to enforce “low emission” rules on the road, experts and politicians warn.

France is rolling out its equivalent of the UK’s ultra low emission zones – known as Zef instead of Ulez – in 11 towns and cities, including Paris.

The scheme will be extended to more than 40 areas with a combined population of 150,000 by the end of next year.

With an estimated 40,000 premature deaths from air pollution per year, France has little choice but to accelerate controls. It was recently found guilty by the Court of Justice of the European Court for “systematically” exceeding its annual limits on nitrogen dioxide emissions. The Conseil d’Etat, France’s top administrative court, has fined the state €30million (£26.5million) for its failure to respect thresholds in various big cities.

But the scheme has led to warnings of a massive public backlash – mainly from poorer motorists unable to pay to change their vehicles in time.

Etienne Chaufour, of France Urbaine, which represents big towns and cities, said: “A Zef that is considered unacceptable will either spark a yellow veststyle situation or won’t work because people will find ways of cheating.”

Similar complaints were made when the French government introduced a new green tax on diesel and petrol cars in 2018, sparking thousands to wear high-visibility vests and protest.

Philippe Cabanne, from protest group Motorcyclists In Anger, said: “This could spark another motorists’ and bikers’ revolt.” Yesterday, he helped organise a protest in Agen, south-western France, where hundreds of bikers vented their anger.

“There is a part of the population that can’t pay for vehicles that fit the air pollution criteria,” he said.

“We are not against improving air quality but at present it’s more about punishing than helping. The whole thing has been done too hastily.”

Motorists in Rouen, northern France, blocked roads earlier this month after the local authority started handing out fines to any vehicles in the highest emission categories. “This rule puts us in another social class. We have become those who can’t afford a new car,” said Rémi, 23.

He and other opponents claim such low-emission zones are being turned into “massive exclusion zones”.

In Lyon, the Green mayor has delayed introducing a ban on mid-polluting cars by two years. However, the Paris area, which handed out more than 1,100 fines last year, is due to clamp down even further in July.

Some politicians have called for the entire system to be reviewed or scrapped. Fabien Roussel, head of the Communist party, said that the plan was a “social bomb” that would hit 10 million motorists.

Despite local and national financial incentives, a recent French parliamentary report on the issue said that indi- viduals and businesses were still facing a “€20,000 [£17,700] shortfall” to buy electric or low-emission vehicles. “We need a moratorium,” Mr Roussel told France Info.

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party even tabled a parliamentary proposal to ban the “separatist” zones, which was defeated.

In France, all vehicles – including those registered abroad – must buy a “Crit’Air” sticker to enter any Zef. Only vehicles that pass a sufficiently “clean” bill of health are permitted and the criteria will get increasingly strict.