Overeenkomst over reductie in uitstoot fluorhoudende broeikasgassen (en)

The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached in the Council today to reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases. Fluorinated gases are extremely powerful and long-lived greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, fire-fighting and various industry processes. The reduction of their emissions is a requirement under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and will help the EU and its Member States meet their Kyoto emission targets and reduce emissions further after 2012. The legislation agreed today includes a Directive dealing with fluorinated gases used in air conditioning systems in vehicles, and a Regulation tackling stationary applications, based on a proposal made by the Commission in August 2003.

"The legislation agreed today is another element in the framework we are building to curb climate change and to implement the Kyoto Protocol", said Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström. "It is an important element because F-gases have huge global warming potential - in some cases almost 24,000 times that of carbon dioxide. By agreeing on this legislation, Member States have once again taken concrete action to fight climate change."

Fluorinated gases

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.^[1]

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 final adoption of this file, following a second reading in the European Parliament and formal 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.
For more information, please go to:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/eccp.htm

^[1] All calculations are based on the EU-15.