Tarn. A69 Motorway: Senate adopts text to restart gigantic construction site at a standstill

Suspended by the administrative courts , the A69 Toulouse-Castres motorway construction site saw its fate examined on Thursday morning by the Senate, which largely adopted an atypical text in an attempt to obtain the resumption of work despite legal questions and the resolute opposition of environmentalists.

Supported by 252 votes for and 33 votes against in the upper house, this so-called "validation" bill, brought forward by senators from Tarn and whose conformity with the Constitution is questioned, is now transmitted to the National Assembly which will examine it from June 2, while the procedure before the administrative court continues . The text has a good chance of being definitively adopted.

“Take back control”

The move aims to allow parliamentarians to "take back control" after the Toulouse administrative court cancelled the construction permit for this 53 km section of motorway, leading to the suspension of the work that began in 2023.

Concretely, this involves having two decrees relating to the environmental authorisation of the project "validated" by law, on the grounds that it meets an imperative reason of major public interest (RIIPM), necessary to justify in the eyes of justice the damage caused to the environment by such a project.

The Senate is thus responding "to an emergency situation" to "avoid the dramatic consequences of stopping the project," insisted Horizons Senator Franck Dhersin, rapporteur of the text.

Indeed, the text's defenders are calling for the "opening up" of a basin of around 100,000 people (Castres-Mazamet) and want to give prospects to local economic actors. However, according to Marie-Lise Housseau, stopping the project, which was due to be completed in 2025, would cause "irreparable damage both economically and psychologically for this department (Tarn, editor's note) which feels humiliated, scorned and denied in its development choices."

Constitutional compliance in doubt

But beyond the merits of the A69 project, the most heated debates concerned the form of this initiative, with serious questions about its conformity with the Constitution.

"The legislator is setting a serious precedent by attempting to influence a Court of Justice," warned environmentalist Jacques Fernique, criticizing an initiative that "gives priority to political will over the rule of law."

On the other hand, supporters of the text defended their approach by meticulously listing the numerous "compelling reasons of general interest" which, according to them, demonstrate the text's conformity with the fundamental law: socio-economic, political, environmental, relating to public finances or even road safety.

But some legislators were unable to hide their discomfort with the unusual format of the bill, which was debated just days before the Toulouse Administrative Court of Appeal examined a first appeal against the work stoppage on May 21.

The government is withdrawing

"We must not proceed on a case-by-case basis," acknowledged Communist Jean-Pierre Corbisez, who was in favor of the Senate. The Senate "is sending a confusing message, that of a Parliament intervening to save a project in legal difficulty," added Socialist Hervé Gillé, whose group did not participate in the vote despite some support from Occitan senators.

While several ministers have welcomed the initiative in recent days, the government has not officially taken a position before the Senate, preferring instead to issue a "wise opinion" so as "not to interfere in the ongoing legal proceedings or in parliamentary work," explained Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot. However, "the government's position on the necessity of this motorway no longer needs to be proven," he was careful to point out.

Opponents of the text will also probably remain a minority in the National Assembly, but their troops there are still sufficient to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council with a view to obtaining the text's censure.