Low-Emission Zone: What Are the Alternatives?

On June 17, 2025, the National Assembly passed the bill to simplify economic life which includes the elimination of low-emission mobility zones (ZFE or ZFE-m). This elimination is therefore official, barring a possible veto by the Constitutional Council. As a reminder, These zones restricted access to several major urban areas for the most polluting vehicles based on their Crit’Air sticker in order to limit emissions of air pollutants—nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). There are, or were, 25 Low-Emission Zones (LEZs) in France.

Without getting into social considerations—which are a topic of discussion in their own right— The results of the Low-Emission Zones were positive from an environmental standpoint. While air pollution levels naturally decline as the vehicle fleet is replaced, Low-Emission Zones help accelerate this decline. Thus, AirParif, the organization authorized to monitor air quality in Île-de-France, indicates that of the estimated 42% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from road traffic between 2017 and 2023, 6 percentage points are attributable to the ZFE-m. With regard to climate change, ZFE-m zones also help accelerate this reduction, although the effect is more limited: according to AirParif, 5% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are attributable to traffic.^[1].

What are the consequences of eliminating the ZFE-m zones?

First of all, it's important to know that The implementation of measures to monitor and improve ambient air quality is a European requirement. In fact, European Directive 2008/50/EC of May 21, 2008 (transposed into French law) sets air pollution limit values for urban areas. The continuous exceeding of pollution thresholds, particularly in Lyon and Paris, has already led to a legal dispute for France with the European Commission as well as several rulings by the Council of State, for a total of 40 million euros in fines.

At the same time, as the EU employs both incentives and penalties on this important issue, the European Union has allocated funds specifically for the implementation of Low-Emission Zones (LEZs). This repeal therefore exposes the government, on the one hand, to a potential reimbursement of subsidies that could amount to 1 billion euros, according to the Treasury^[2], and could jeopardize future EU payments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (3.3 billion euros in 2025) if it considers that France is no longer reliable in implementing its plans. The elimination of ZFE-m zones could jeopardize the payment of these subsidies.

The repeal of the ZFE-m zones therefore poses a dual financial and legal risk in the event of noncompliance with air quality thresholds.

What is the alternative to ZFE-m zones?

The European directive does not explicitly require the implementation of Low-Emission Zones (LEZs) in urban areas, but it does allow for the achievement of regulatory air quality standards. Member States such as Sweden and Italy have opted to implement congestion tolls, traffic-restricted zones, or mandatory vehicle registration systems with an associated tax. However, the establishment of environmental zones with traffic restrictions depending on the vehicle's age and pollution level is the most common measure^[3].

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on whether the current format of the ZFE was a good approach or not. However, Alternatives will have to be adopted quickly in any case, not only from an environmental and health perspective to protect the most vulnerable populations, but also from a strictly legal and financial perspective in order to comply with European standards.