Low-emission zones in Paris and other cities are to be scrapped after a parliamentary vote responding to a popular backlash against environmental restrictions in France, reports The Times.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the hard-right National Rally, and the radical left France Unbowed both claimed victory after joining forces, along with conservatives, to abolish a six-year-old law that has barred higher polluting vehicles from city centres.
The victory, by 98 votes to 51, came hours after a defeat for environmental campaigners as a court decided to allow work to restart on the highly contested A69 motorway in southwestern France.
In February a court ordered a halt to construction after two years of environmental protests and objections from farmers and rural residents in the path of the 38-mile motorway between Toulouse and Castres.
Backed by 80 per cent of the public, according to polls, the opponents of the urban “Zones à faibles émissions” — equivalent to Britain’s Ulez — argued that they discriminate against poorer car owners.