The Assembly approves the "simplification" law and confirms the destruction of Macron's rare ecological measures

Deregulation under the guise of "simplification." After three months of examination, completely disjointed by multiple postponements and the procrastination of the Macronist group , the text was adopted by 275 votes to 252, and will go before a joint committee, where seven deputies and seven senators will have to agree on a common version.

After the vote, the Minister for Trade and SMEs, Véronique Louwagie (LR), defended a text "strongly anticipated by the economic world", while her colleague for Simplification, Laurent Marcangeli (Horizons), praised a bill that "responds to a clear demand: to alleviate the administrative constraints that weigh on their daily lives and hinder their development."

MPs from the RN-Ciottist alliance, LR, MoDem, and Horizons voted largely in favor (5 LR abstentions), as did some independents from Liot. The left and environmentalists overwhelmingly opposed the bill, which, according to Anne Stambach-Terrenoir (LFI), dealt "chainsaw blows (...) to the rule of law (and) environmental justice."

For the duration of a vote, they were joined by two-thirds of the Macronist deputies from the Ensemble pour la République group (fourteen EPR deputies abstained, and eight voted in favor). The group expected to reject the text and with it setbacks on markers of Emmanuel Macron's first five-year term, starting with the "low emission zones" (ZFE) . LR and RN have in fact included in the copy the pure and simple elimination of these ZFE, which exclude old and polluting vehicles, with the help of certain Macronist votes. But also those of LFI, although the group is opposed to the rest of the text.

"This is a cultural victory for the National Rally against punitive ecologies," RN MP Pierre Meurin rejoiced to reporters after the vote. "Public health and the fight against climate change and pollution should not be the adjustment variables in political calculations," retorted Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

For PS group leader Boris Vallaud, the vote "reveals the climate skepticism of a section of the chamber." "It's very worrying to have an ungoverned government, to have a majority, even a relative one, without a leader," he added. "We're signaling the end of ecology in Emmanuel Macron's mandates," added environmentalist Lisa Belluco.

"Canceling the ZFE means killing the poorest, not protecting them," vigorously responded David Belliard, Green deputy to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, in charge of Transport. Against the left and part of the central bloc, the right and the National Rally also secured a significant rollback of the "zero net artificialization" (ZAN), a measure to combat land take, by allowing local authorities to "exceed by up to 30%" the limit on developable areas.

Highly publicized votes that "overwhelm everything," including some "interesting compromises," laments rapporteur Stéphane Travert (affiliated with the EPR), who himself abstained. After the vote, he highlighted "several major advances" in the text for "the implementation of industrial and digital projects" and for supporting "local commerce."

EPR's allies in the MoDem and Horizons have approved the text, with both groups believing that the measure on ZFEs has a high chance of being rejected by the Constitutional Council as a "legislative rider" – without sufficient connection to the initial text.

The eclectic text includes a range of provisions for individuals, entrepreneurs and traders, ranging from simplifying the commercial lease system to the issuance of IV licenses. It also plans to facilitate the establishment of data centers and secure the legal process for infrastructure projects such as the A69 motorway .

The main parliamentary battles initially revolved around the simplification of public action and a review of state agencies and advisory bodies. Ultimately, around twenty bodies are targeted for possible abolition.