ENV Council: Agreement to reduce Emissions of F-gases

Publication date: 14 October 2004

The Environment Council reached today a political agreement on the reduction of emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases. The legislation agreed today includes a Directive dealing with fluorinated gases used in air conditioning systems in vehicles, and a Regulation tackling stationary applications. This splitting of the draft fluorinated greenhouse gas regulation (COM(2003) 492 - COD(2003) 0189 dated August 2003) into two separate propsals follows a proposal of the Dutch Presidency.

com2003_0492_fluorinated_gases.pdf (152 KB)

fgas_compromise_proposal.pdf (240 KB)

Directive to phase out HFC-134a from air conditioning systems in vehicles
The Directive will phase out HFC 134a, the currently used refrigerant in vehicle air conditioning system, from 2011 onward for new vehicle models and from 2017 for all new vehicles. In addition, before the phase out starts, vehicle air conditioners should not leak more than 40 grams of HFC-134a per annum. If the vehicle has two evaporators, as this could be the case in some minivans for instance, the maximum leakage rate should not be higher that 60 grams per annum.

Regulation on stationary applications of F-gases
This Regulation applies to stationary applications of F-gases. It will improve containment by setting minimum standards for inspection and recovery. It will strengthen the monitoring and reporting of their emissions, introduce labelling of products and equipment so that consumers can make informed choices, and set up EU-wide minimum standards for training and certification of personnel. Where containment is not feasible or the use of certain fluorinated gases is inappropriate, marketing and use will be banned (e.g. related to magnesium die-casting; F-gases in vehicle tyres, non-refillable containers, windows, footwear, one-component foams; self-chilling drinking cans, novelty aerosols, new fire protection systems and fire extinguishers).

Background:
The fluorinated gases (F-gases) covered are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). By volume, F-gases currently account for 2% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. However, their global warming potential is high and many of them have long atmospheric lifetimes. For example, SF6 has a global warming potential that is 23,900 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the most common greenhouse gas. If no measures were taken, the Commission estimates that emissions of fluorinated gases would increase from 65.2 million tonnes of CO2 eq. in 1995 to 98 million tonnes in 2010. With the measures agreed today, they will be reduced by more than 20 million tonnes of CO2 eq. per year until 2012, and when the legislation is fully implemented, by 40-50 million tonnes of CO2 eq. each year (calculations based on EU-15).

Next steps:
The proposals will be adopted as a common position at a future Council session, followed by a second reading in the European Parliament. The final adoption by the Council is expected towards the end of next year.
Member States will then have 18 months to transpose the Directive, while the Regulation will enter into force unchanged and immediately after publication in the Official Journal.

Related News Items:
- F-Gases in Cars' Air Conditioning Systems banned from 2014 (31 March 2004)
- MEPs for cleaner Air Conditionings in Cars (15 March 2004)
- Commission tackles fluorinated gases in air-conditionings (11 August 2003)