The giant EuropaCity project falls to the brink of environmental costs

© Allies and Territories

The controversial mega-complex project, which was supposed to see the light of day by 2027, was abandoned by the President of the Republic.

EuropaCity had to be a true Eldorado, as the new destination of Greater Paris. This huge leisure area of ​​80 hectares, planned to be located 7 minutes from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport and 24 minutes from the center of the capital, was to be accessible by line 17 of the Grand Paris Express metro station. here 2027. It had to include a huge cultural area, a covered theme park, a snow park, a water park, but also an urban farm and park, several hotels, and a huge shopping center. And he will not see the light of day. In any case, not in this form.

The state says "stop"

The state, which had long time the project, finally became the hangman of the Paris Ile-de-France complex of leisure and commerce. The activists of the ecological cause and many associations and NGOs demanded the pure cancellation of the public development operation. And they won.

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Emmanuel Macron, then his Minister of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition Elisabeth Borne, formalized the end of the project on 7 November as part of the Ecological Defense Council. This is reminiscent of the folder also closed of Notre-Dame des Landes.

The proponent's ecological arguments have not convinced

For promoters of EuropaCity, Alliages and Territories, who thought they could transform tens of hectares of farmland with the support of Auchan and the Chinese group Wanda, this is obviously a huge blow. The project's company emphasizes an "incoherent" decision while it is the State that asked Allies and Territories to participate and to engage in the development operation of the Gonesse Triangle that it has been piloting since origin. "

Despite severe challenges, the state was able to convince the proponent to propose a project aimed at ecological transition. Alloys and Territories thus boasted full coverage of heat needs thanks to a biomass boiler, and 100% of the project's renewable energy supply, in addition to the installation of photovoltaic panels on 14 hectares of roofing, and 100% of the needs for energy. non-drinking water covered by recycling devices, as well as the promise of the arrival of one visitor out of two by public transport. Insufficient promises.

A line drawn on 10,000 potential jobs

The EuropaCity project, according to its designers, has created 10,000 jobs in Val-d'Oise, a department where the unemployment rate is 8.6%, slightly above the national average (8.5% in the second year). quarter 2019, according to INSEE ), which delighted elected officials.

An alternative project in EuropaCity could, however, see the place. But for that, it will have to be "more mixed, more modern, without creating an excessive pole of consumption, of leisures and objects", one warns on the side of the Élysée.



Source: Press release