Conciliation Agreement on FL-Gases

Publication date: 31 January 2006

An agreement was reached today at the first conciliation meeting between Parliament and Council on fluorinated greenhouse gases. Several rounds of informal talks had paved the way for this deal. The main outstanding point was the highly sensitive issue of national exemptions for countries which already have, or wish to introduce, stricter measures as part of efforts to fight greenhouse gases. The negotiations between the two institutions concerned two pieces of legislation: a regulation on fluorinated gases covered by the Kyoto protocol and a less controversial directive on emissions from air conditioning systems in motor vehicles.

Directive to phase out HFC-134a from air conditioning systems in new vehicles
The Directive will phase out HFC 134a, the refrigerant currently used in car air conditioning system, from 1 January 2011 onward for new vehicle models and from 1 January 2017 for all new vehicles. In addition, vehicle air conditioners should not leak more than 40 grams of HFC-134a per year. If the vehicle has two evaporators, as can be the case in some minivans for instance, the maximum leakage rate should not be higher that 60 grams per year.

Under both pieces of legislation, Member States are invited to promote the use of more environmentally friendly technologies and alternatives.

Next steps
Following today’s conciliation agreement, the final adoption of these legislative acts by Parliament and Council is expected by mid-2006. Member States will then have 18 months to transpose the Directive,

The legislation is only a first step. Once in force there will need to be a period of monitoring and evaluation, after which the Commission will consider the need for additional measures on the basis of a thorough review.

Related News Item:
- Ban on Fluorinated Gases in Cars (12 October 2005)