Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of 
the Council on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases

2003/0189 (COD)

These pages are intended as a guide to stakeholders on the progress of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases.  On this page you will find a summary of the latest information, the latest text of the proposal, a timetable of important dates, minutes of the industry stakeholders meetings that report on the progress of negotiations and briefing notes sent to MEPs.  Contact details are provided at the bottom of the page should you wish to comment on any aspect of the proposal.

Index

1. Latest Information  

2. The latest text of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases 2003/0189 (COD)

3. Timetable 

4. Minutes of f-gas industry stakeholders meetings  

5. Other documents  

6. Review of the proposal's progress

7. Summary of the proposal  

8. Formal UK Consultation  

9. UK Parliamentary Scrutiny

10. Useful links 

11. Key Contacts  

1.  Latest Information

This section summarises key recent developments. More details and links to documents are provided in the sections below.

The f-gas Regulation and MAC Directive had their second Readings in the European Parliament on 26 October and passed through largely unchanged.  MEPs rejected proposals for a single Environmental (Article 175) legal base for the Regulation and a single internal market (Article 95) legal base proposal.  Therefore, the dual legal base adopted by the Council remains.  MEPs also rejected all the additional “placing on the market” prohibition proposals.

MEPs did passed 26 technical amendments relative to the regulation, which has made a second reading deal very difficult.  Some of the amendments are acceptable as they stand, others would be very difficult to accept.  The majority of these might be acceptable provided compromise wording can be found.

On the MAC Directive, MEPs voted to reject almost all amendments to the agreed Council Common Position text.   Only one amendment was passed, which enables Member States to promote the installation of air-conditioning systems using a gas with a low global warming potential.

A copy of all the amendments adopted by the European Parliament can be found in section 5.

The f-gas dossier will now go to conciliation under the Austrian Presidency.

DTI, working with other Whitehall departments and the devolved administrations, continues to seek the views of UK industry on the proposal and would appreciate your comments. If you wish to comment on the proposal, please e-mail your views to Alan Morgan (alan.morgan@dti.gsi.gov.uk) at the Sustainable Development Unit. 

Respondents in Scotland are requested to copy comments to the Scottish Executive’s Climate Change Team climate.change@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

2.  The latest text of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases

A copy of the Common Position Test as published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 July 2005 is attached below.

The f-gas Regulation

The MAC Directive

The next Stakeholders meeting will take place on Friday 24th February 2006.

Rapporteur Reports:

Regulation                                                                                                                                Directive

Draft recommendation for second reading

Regulation (amendments 18-76)    

Directive (amendments1-21)

Recommendations adopted by the European Parliament at second Reading

Briefing notes for UK MEPs from the UK Government

 December 2003

19 January 2004  

10 March 2004

23 March 2004 (for 1st Reading)

UK Presidency briefing for MEPs

                   12 July 2005

December 2003 update on Environment Council negotiations on proposed EC Regulation on certain fluorinated gases

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) (27.06.2005)

6. Review of the proposal's progress

The Commission published its proposal for a Regulation on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases on 11 August 2003 (COM(2003) 492 final) http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0492en01.pdf.

Rapporteur Robert Goodwill of the Environment Committee published his draft report on the proposal (Draft Report on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (COM(2003) 492 -  C5-0397/03 - 2003/0189(COD)) suggesting numerous amendments.  Other MEPs also submitted amendments for consideration  http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/envi/20040216/521806en.pdf by the environment committee.

The European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) adopted its opinion on the proposed EC Regulation on certain fluorinated gases on the 16th March in a complex and often very close series of votes.

The committee passed 84 amendments and these, together with 28 late tabled amendments, went forward to the first reading (Plenary) in the European Parliament 31 March 2004. 

First Reading (Plenary)

The Plenary adopted 80 of the 112 amendments tabled to the Commission proposal.  Details of the amendments adopted together with the opinion of the Commission as regards the amendments adopted can be found on the document Outcome of the European Parliament’s first reading.

The first Council Working Group (CWG) under the Irish Presidency took place on 28 April 2004.  The Presidency stated that it would not be pressing for Political agreement at the June Environment Council, but it would schedule substantive discussions for May and June in order to "flush out" areas of potential difficulty. 

During negotiations in Council it was agreed that the measures in the Regulation relating to Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) should form part of a separate Directive amending existing vehicle type approval legislation.

The MAC Directive sets out measures to minimise emissions of f-gases from air conditioning systems in cars (or car derived vans).  This is to be achieved principally through:

• the introduction of maximum leakage rates

• the eventual phase out in MAC use of f-gases with global warming potential greater than 150.

Political agreement on the f-gas Regulation and MAC Directive was reached at the Environment Council meeting on 14^th October.

The most contentious parts of the negotiation proved to be the legal base and the “global warming potential (GWP) threshold” that has implications for the next generation of vehicle air-conditioning systems.

a)      Legal Base: The Council agreed to split the original Commission proposal into two separate pieces of legislation: a Regulation with a dual 175 (environment) / 95 (internal market) legal base (and a recital indicating the appropriate legal base for each Article) and a Directive with an Article 95 (internal market) legal base that modifies European Whole Vehicle Type Approval. 

b)     GWP threshold for air conditioning systems fitted to vehicles:  The Council agreed a GWP threshold of 150 for the Directive.  A neutral review on whether the GWP should be amended will take place within 5 years of the date of entry into force, with a proviso that any change should reflect technological advances and should respect industrial product planning timescales.

The Council did not agree to any further additions to the use bans or to the placing on the market prohibitions.

Avril Doyle MEP replaced Robert Goodwill as the Rapporteur for the f-gas dossier after the European Parliament election in 2004.  Ms Doyle has been an MEP since 1999 and is Head of the Irish Delegation to the EEP-ED (Christian Democrats) Group in Europe.

At the Environment Committee's Coordinators' meeting on the 2^nd  February 2005 the coordinators discussed whether the Parliament should request a new first reading or opt instead for an open second reading.

The coordinators decided to carry on with the EP's second reading on the two common positions (the Regulation and the Directive).  However, in the light of the changes to the original text, a wide range of amendments would be permitted, including ones reopening not just the current text, but even if appropriate, the Parliament's first reading text.

The Common Position was formally adopted by the Council on 21 June and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 July 2005. 

7.  Summary of the proposal

The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) was established in June 2000 to identify cost effective measures that would enable the EU to meet its Kyoto Protocol target to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 8% from baseline levels by 2008-12. The Commissions Communication "on the implementation of the first phase of the European Climate Change Programme" (COM(2001) 580 final October 2001) proposed a package of 12 priority measures including a proposal for legislative action on fluorinated greenhouse gases.

If adopted, the proposed Regulation would introduce a general obligation to take all measures that are technically and economically feasible to minimise emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases. Specifically, it would introduce measures on the containment, use and recovery of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases, restrictions on the placing on the market of some applications containing these gases, and measures on the reporting of data on these gases.

In addition to the text of the Regulation having legal effect in the UK, additional national legislation will be needed in the UK to provide for new offences and penalties for non-compliance.

The proposed Regulation is a complex package of measures some of which may have significant implications for UK industry.  Key sectors affected are: manufacturers and operators of equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases, such as refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment (including mobile air-conditioning – MAC – equipment in some vehicles).  It is important that Government is fully informed as to all the implications of the proposed Regulation in order to minimise the possibility of any unintended consequences.

8.  Formal UK Consultation

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), DTI and the devolved administrations began a nationwide consultation exercise on 3 December 2003 to elicit the views of stakeholders on both the overall objective of the proposal as well as specifics regarding each of the proposed articles. The formal consultation closed on 24 February 2004. A summary of stakeholder comments and Government responses is available on the Defra website.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/fluogreengas/index.htm

The Government has responded to the questions raised in the consultation paper by stating its position and what it aims to achieve during negotiations.  The Government has taken note of the points made in the consultation and will ensure that they help inform the UK thinking in the course of negotiations.  Although the formal consultation is now closed, the Government still welcomes further comments from stakeholders on any aspect of the proposal.

9.  UK Parliamentary Scrutiny  

A scrutiny debate was held on the proposal in European Standing Committee A of the UK House of Commons.  Mr Elliot Morley (Minister of the Environment) responded for the UK Government.  A full transcript of the debate can be found at

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmstand/euroa/st040114/40114s01.htm  

10.  Useful links

Defra

The European Parliament

The European Commission 

Cabinet Office Better Regulation Task Force

The Environment Agency

Scottish Executive’s Climate Change Team

Department for Transport

11.  Key Contacts

 
Jerome Glass
DTI Sustainable Development Unit  

Policy Adviser

020 7215 1666  
jerome.glass@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Alan Morgan
DTI Sustainable Development Unit 

Policy Adviser

020 7215 1644  
alan.morgan@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Richard Plant
Defra 

Policy Adviser

020 7082 8169

richard.plant@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Keith Brierley
Environment Agency 
Policy Adviser
0117 914 2939  
keith.brierley@environment-agency.gov.uk

Alistair Montgomery  
Scottish Executive
Climate Change Team
0131 244 7384  
climate.change@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

(Site updated 10 January 2006)

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