The judicial setback to the Low Emissions Zone (ZBE) of Barcelona leads to a loss of income fines for the capital. Almost two months after the Supreme Court annulled the first ordinance that implemented restrictions on the circulation of vehicles without an environmental label, the government of Mayor Jaume Collboni estimates that almost 60% of the sanctions imposed while the now repealed municipal regulation was in force between January 1, 2020 and February 21, 2023. It is the period before the regulations were modified to soften it after the first resolutions of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) , favorable to contentious that unions dedicated to the motor and associations of drivers They launched against the council.
“The fines susceptible to annulment due to being pending payment or appealed are 143,394, worth 20.2 million euros. “It is the amount that, at most, would not be paid,” the municipal executive responds to EL PERIÓDICO. Although it continues to recapitulate how many allegations were filed within the deadline, the City Council anticipates that the figure “will not have much impact” in the estimates of the collection in penalties that he no longer receives due to the ruling of the Supreme Court, “since those not collected will all end up being cancelled,” he points out.
Before the setback of the Supreme Court, the legal services of the consistory predicted that a ruling against the regulation that governed the ZBE in Barcelona for just over three years was “probable”. As a result of the forecast, the City Council reserved almost 32 million euros against the eventual “risk” that the municipal lawyers detected: in the hypothesis of an adverse pronouncement, they predicted that they would have to “face the possible claims carried out by citizens sanctioned for violations of the ZBE ordinance, as reflected in the last closed general account of the consistory, that of 2022.
He upright that the City Council provided in the expectation of a ruling unfavorable of the Supreme Court covered almost the whole of the sanctions processed during the three-year period in which the revoked rule remained in force. The speed limiter to vehicles judged to be the most pollutants They settled with some 328,000 fines imposed between January 2020 and March 2023, for an amount of about 35 million euros. Of all, the council breaks down that 58,000 sanctions were “annulled before the sentence, for various reasons.” They totaled 4.3 million euros.
In any case, the local government denies that the Supreme Court’s resolution requires the return of the amounts of the sanctions already paid. From the municipal data it is clear that just over a third of the debts have been settled. penalties registered while the abolished regulation prevailed. Specifically, 38% was settled: 127,000 penalties were paid, which represented 10.5 million euros for the municipal coffers.
Refunds not accepted
“The new allegations and appeals that may eventually be presented against fines for infractions committed prior to February 22, 2023 will not be admitted for processing, because final administrative acts are not subject to appeal,” argues the council. On the other hand, the entities that appealed against the limitations on weekdays to vehicle traffic without the Zero Emissions, Eco, C or B stickers object that the entire income that the City Council obtained with the regulation that the Supreme Court liquidated.
“You will have to return all the fines from 2020 to 2023, yes or yes,” says Mònica Xufré, from the Platform for People Affected by Circulatory Restrictions. The drivers association – one of those that litigated against the ZBE – explains that it has already encountered the rejection of the City Council to the attempts made after the court ruling to try to recover the sanctions paid. “He feels very comfortable passing a right through the lining,” reproaches Xufré. We encourage our associates to go to a lawyer and, if necessary, they go to the courts and claim the amount with costs.
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“All amounts must be returned, because they are totally inappropriate. It is regrettable that the administration, having generated a damage“Do not provide the means to restore people,” says Carlos Folchi, general secretary of the General Association of Autonomous Transporters and SMEs of Catalonia. The entity is considering presenting claims for financial liability so that all those sanctioned are compensated through collective action.
“It will depend on each affected, some will not budge for a single sanction, but there are carriers who accumulate seven to 10 fines – says Folchi -. The probability of success is high. With the health cent, the administration also said that it would not return anything, we proposed collective actions and it is being returned.”