The National Assembly approves the "simplification" bill

After keeping the suspense alive until the end, and despite the division within the government camp, the National Assembly finally adopted on Tuesday, June 17, the "simplification" bill, and its controversial measure to repeal low-emission zones to combat air pollution.

After three months of completely disjointed examination due to multiple postponements of the text, the bill was adopted by 275 votes to 252, and will now go before a joint committee, where seven deputies and seven senators will have to agree on a common version.

After the vote, the Minister for Trade and SMEs, Véronique Louwagie (LR), defended a text "strongly anticipated by the economic world" , while her colleague for the civil service and simplification, Laurent Marcangeli (Horizons), praised a bill which "responds to a clear demand: to alleviate the administrative constraints which weigh on their daily lives and hinder their development."

The deputies of the RN-ciottistes alliance, LR, MoDem and Horizons all voted for it, as did some of Liot's independents. The left and the ecologists massively opposed the text , "without rhyme or reason" (Emmanuel Maurel, GDR), or dealing "chainsaw blows (...) to the rule of law (and) environmental justice" (Anne Stambach-Terrenoir, LFI).

For the duration of a vote, they were joined by two-thirds of Macron's MPs from the Ensemble pour la République group (fourteen EPR MPs abstained, and eight voted in favor). The group expected to reject the text and with it, setbacks on key milestones of Emmanuel Macron's first five-year term, starting with "low-emission zones" (LEZs).

The Republicans and the National Rally have in fact included in the copy the pure and simple abolition of these ZFE, which exclude old and polluting vehicles, with the support of certain Macronist and LFI voices, even if the latter are opposed to the rest of the bill.

"We have dealt a blow to the bureaucracy, challenged punitive ecology," claimed Matthias Renault (RN), assuming to "challenge the work of Emmanuel Macron."

"This is a text that weakens what we have built over the past eight years," retorted EPR MP Marie Lebec, while the government had unsuccessfully proposed a compromise by only imposing ZFE around Paris and Lyon.

Against the left and part of the central bloc, the right and the RN also obtained a clear reduction in the "zero net artificialization" (ZAN), a system for combating land artificialization , by allowing communities to "exceed by up to 30%" the limit of developable areas.

Highly publicized votes that "overwhelm everything," including some "interesting compromises," laments rapporteur Stéphane Travert (affiliated with the EPR). But while his group's MPs voted against it, their allies from the MoDem and Horizons approved the text.

The text "includes a large number of simplification measures expected by our economic fabric and our fellow citizens; we must accelerate," said Paul Christophe, head of the Horizons group. He also considered that the measure on ZFE "has a good chance" of being rejected by the Constitutional Council as a "legislative rider" - without sufficient connection to the initial text, an argument shared by the MoDem group.

The eclectic text provides for a whole range of provisions for individuals, entrepreneurs and traders, ranging from the simplification of the commercial lease system to the issuance of IV licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages.

It also plans to facilitate the establishment of data centers and to secure the legal process for infrastructure projects such as the controversial A69 motorway .

The main parliamentary battles initially revolved around simplifying public action and reviewing state agencies and advisory bodies. Ultimately, some twenty bodies are targeted for possible abolition. Had the Assembly rejected the bill, it would have agreed for the third time in a month to go to the Joint Committee without a copy, giving senators more leeway.