The executive is taking new measures to support the ecological transition. Guest of France Inter this Tuesday morning, the Minister Delegate in charge of Transport announced the abandonment of motorway projects, without providing further details. Contested by left-wing elected officials, the A69 is however not affected, he added.
“I will make strong decisions in the coming weeks. There will be projects (motorway construction) which will be stopped,” said Clément Beaune, referring to “several projects” for which “discussions are still ongoing”. “We need to be coherent in times of ecological planning,” he also said, regarding a certain number of current and future projects. “We cannot do as before,” he continued, announcing that “current projects” would see “their impacts on the environment” be reduced, while “projects which have not yet been launched” would be either maintained “because some are useful”, or completely “stopped”.
On this subject, Clément Beaune assured that it was necessary to “finish discussions with elected officials” on the ground, to the extent that certain projects “are still under discussion”, while promising to be ready to take “courageous decisions to stop “. The minister had already announced at the end of April that a “certain number of road projects” would be “reviewed”, promising a verdict “by the beginning of summer”. Contacted this Tuesday to specify which projects would be affected, his office did not wish to elaborate further, and assured us that “decisions will be made in the coming weeks”.
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Asked about the challenge by certain elected officials and environmental activists to the construction of the A69 between Toulouse and Castres, the Minister Delegate defended this project, which has already “been the subject of numerous political and legal decisions”. Decisions that now had to be “respected”, while we are, according to him, “in a state of law that we must respect”.
“I hear that some are opposed to the project and I respect that, but there is still a problem of principle, beyond this highway,” he explains. He in fact wishes to be able to “move forward freely” when “we are faced with projects whatever they may be that elected officials have confirmed, that the State has confirmed and that all appeals have been resolved before the judge”. “When decisions are made, we apply them,” he finally concluded.
