The restrictions on traffic circulation in Barcelona due to the implementation of the city's Low Emission Zone (ZBE) were the motive for a bitter dispute in the European Parliament after the Spanish Popular Party MEP Dolors Montserrat, in her role as chair of the chamber's Petitions Committee, agreed to study the situation in Barcelona at the request of a citizen who considers that the measure violates citizens' rights, according to the news agency Europa Press. In his petition, the citizen considers that the ZBE restrictions are not based on the results of vehicles' certificates of roadworthiness (ITV) and therefore maintains that it discriminates against the owners of old vehicles, whose permission to circulate on Barcelona roads is now limited under the scheme, regardless of their level of pollution.
As well, reports the agency, Montserrat's decision to admit the petition for consideration provoked a bitter difference of opinion with the Catalan Socialist (PSC) MEP Javi López, who countered that the measures applied in the Catalan capital, “do not violate European legislation, in fact they are in line with what the European Union is asking for and with the European Commission’s star policy" and he recalled that there is indeed a court process open against Spain, but not due to the ZBE policy, but rather for the opposite reason: for the lack of measures in the Spanish state to improve air quality.
Tensions in the chamber rose further with the intervention of Danish Green MP Margrete Auken, who pointed out the "weakness" of Montserrat's arguments and accused her of having political reasons for acting against the Barcelona municipal government and its mayor, Ada Colau. In turn, PP deputy Rosa Estarás affirmed that the criteria for applying the traffic restrictions in Barcelona are "arbitrary" and do not respond to environmental issues, and she therefore called for an assessment of the measures imposed in the city.
Finally, far-right MP Jorge Buxadé, from Vox, said that parliamentarians pollute more than citizens due to their travel and called the ZBE restrictions "environmental imposition", which in his opinion is a violation of Europeans' rights to mobility and property.
Pollution offence
According to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), Brussels brought Spain before the EU courts in July 2019 over the high levels of air pollution in Barcelona and Madrid as part of an infringement procedure for non-compliance with European air quality directives, which sets maximum emission levels. In the case of Barcelona, the levels of carbon dioxide caused by the circulation of vehicles were exceeded. The ZBE came into force in early 2020, although charging of fines did not begin until later.
Main image: Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, almost without traffic / Europa Press