The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is not taking this lying down and is preparing a legal battle against the European Union. The Brussels Commission's decision to raise the maximum limits on motor vehicle emissions has not gone down well with the French capital's first citizen, who has announced two appeals before the EU courts, while simultaneously calling on the mayors of nineteen other major European cities to join and support the legal battle.

Emissioni smog auto — Emissions test on a German car ©Sean Gallup/Getty Images

NOx emission limits increased by 110 per cent

Building broad consensus should not be difficult, given that twenty cities – among them Madrid, Athens, Milan, Stockholm, Vienna and Amsterdam – had signed a petition on 16 March last against the same Commission decision. The Commission had in fact decided to increase by 110 per cent the authorised thresholds for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), substances that are hazardous to human health and released in particular by diesel engines.

"This is a scandalous capitulation in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal," Hidalgo explained, stressing that "Europe's priorities must be to protect the health of citizens and to combat climate change." "Despite the significant mobilisation by local administrators as well as citizens," she added, "on 26 April last the raising of emission thresholds was confirmed and published in the Official Journal of the EU. For this reason, together with my European counterparts, I am determined to act with every means at my disposal, so that the Commission listens to our concerns."

Anne Hidalgo Parigi — The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has filed two appeals against the EU's decision to raise the limits on harmful emissions from motor vehicles ©Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

The mayor of Paris seeks the support of the French government

The appeals filed challenge the decision of the European executive body both on substance and on procedural grounds, because the new regulation "violates the maximum nitrogen oxide thresholds currently in force" and because the procedure used is deemed inappropriate.

The formal lodging of the appeals – explains the Afp news agency – is expected to involve a waiting period of around two weeks. In the meantime, the mayor of Paris hopes to also obtain the formal backing of the government, not least in view of the fact that Environment Minister Ségolène Royal had supported the petition two months ago.

NOx emission limits increased by 110 per cent

The mayor of Paris seeks the support of the French government

Opening image: ©Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Harmful diesel emissions. The mayor of Paris files two appeals against the EU