A69 Motorway: Ministers and MPs join forces to bypass the courts and restart construction

Ministers aligned and parliamentarians from the "central bloc" almost unanimous. Contested by environmental protection associations and halted since a court ruling, the construction of the A69, a 53-kilometer motorway between Toulouse and Castres , is defended by the entire majority. A rare occurrence in these times of instability and political uncertainty.

On Thursday, May 15, a so-called "validation" bill for this project will be examined in the Senate chamber during the parliamentary niche of the Centrist Union (UC). This text aims to circumvent the decision of the Toulouse administrative court which, on February 27, canceled the environmental authorization for this project, the work of which has, in effect, been suspended. This interference by the legislative power in the judicial procedure irritates community activists and many lawyers and legal experts.

"We can challenge this decision without calling into question the independence of the judiciary ," counters Jean Terlier, a member of parliament for the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) party in Tarn and a fervent supporter of the project. "An administrative act can be regularized if it is based on a compelling reason of major public interest. And we believe that the opening up of the area and the socio-economic context justify this legislative approach." The administrative court, on the contrary, ruled that the motorway did not meet the criteria of a "compelling reason of major public interest" and therefore could not deviate from the ban on destroying protected species.

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