Vehicles and light commercial vans manufactured before 1997 will no longer be allowed to circulate in Paris. The measure, in force from 1 July, aims to reduce air pollution in the French capital.
In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, they no longer want anything to do with black clouds billowing from rusty exhaust pipes and unchecked polluting emissions. From 1 July, Paris is banning vehicles manufactured before 1997, reinforcing its policy of renewing the vehicle fleet and combating smog — a policy that had already led, in the past, to permanent local bans, for example along the Champs-Élysées, to particularly low speed limits, and to plans to ban all diesel vehicles from circulation by 2020.
More modern cars mean cleaner cars. An undeniable equation, especially when one considers how the "Euro" anti-pollution directives have led car manufacturers, from 1991 to the present day, to drastically reduce the harmful emissions of their vehicles, most notably carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. An equation that has led Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, in concert with the French Ministry of the Environment headed by Ségolène Royal — a candidate for the presidency of the Republic in 2007 — to ban the circulation of both cars and commercial vehicles manufactured before 1997. A ban that will, in effect, clear the capital's streets of vehicles that do not comply, at a minimum, with the Euro 2 standard, which came into force in 1997.
The measure adopted by the city of Paris is not as revolutionary as the Netherlands' intention to ban conventional motor vehicles by 2030 or Norway's plan to have exclusively electric cars by 2025, but it has a characteristic that is often lacking in many plans devoted to sustainable mobility: concreteness. According to the daily Les Echos, the ban will come into force on 1 July and will be enforced on weekdays from 8:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the evening, excluding weekends. What is more, cars circulating on the road network of the Ville Lumière — that is, those manufactured after 1997 — will be required to display specific stickers, similar to Swiss motorway vignettes, to be affixed to the windscreen, certifying that the vehicle belongs to one of six categories defined according to its emissions.
Cars and commercial vehicles manufactured before 1997 will be banned without appeal and without exceptions. The measure, which also extends to motorcycles built before 1 June 1999, provides for a fine of 35 euros initially, rising to 68 euros thereafter. The fines will be applicable from 1 October. A landmark change for Paris which, particularly over the last five years, has recorded record pollution levels, frequently resorting to alternating number plate restrictions. From 1 July, something could change.