Council greenlights new rules to reduce harmful emissions

The Council has adopted two regulations to phase down fluorinated gases (F-gases) and other substances that cause global warming and deplete the ozone layer.

While existing EU legislation has already limited the use of these gases and substances significantly, the new rules will further reduce their emissions into the atmosphere and contribute to limiting global temperature rise, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Many products we use in everyday life, such as refrigerators and air conditioning, rely on extremely detrimental substances that undermine our environment. The new rules we have put in place impose clear bans and restrictions on such damaging substances, while encouraging the development of sustainable alternatives to protect people’s health. Credit goes to our Czech, Swedish, and Spanish predecessors for the invaluable work they carried out on this crucial legislation, in order to bring the EU closer to reaching its ambitious climate targets.

Alain Maron, minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for climate change, environment, energy and participatory democracy

Fluorinated gases

Under the new rules, the consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) will be completely phased out by 2050. On the other hand, the production of HFC, in terms of production rights allocated by the Commission to produce HFCs, will be phased down to a minimum (15%) as of 2036. Both production and consumption will be phased down on the basis of a tight schedule with a degressive quota allocation (Annexes V and VII).

The text introduces a full ban on placing products and equipment containing HFCs on the market for several categories for which it is technologically and economically feasible to switch to F-gas alternatives, including certain domestic refrigerators, chillers, foams and aerosols. It also sets specific dates for the complete phase-out of the use of F-gases in air conditioning, heat pumps and switchgears:

• 2032 for small monoblock heat pumps and air conditioning (<12kW)
• 2035 for split air conditioning and heat pumps, with earlier deadlines for certain types of split systems with higher global warming potential
• 2030 for medium-voltage switchgears (up to and including 52 kV) relying on F-gases
• 2032 for high-voltage switchgears (>52kV)

The impacts and effects of the regulation, including an assessment of the existence of cost-effective, technically feasible and sufficiently available alternatives to replace F-gases, will be reviewed by the Commission no later than 1 January 2030. By 2040 the Commission will also have to evaluate the feasibility of the 2050 phase-out date for the consumption of HFCs and the need for HFCs in sectors where they are still used, taking into account technological developments and the availability of alternatives to HFCs for the applications in question.

Ozone depleting substances

The regulation bans ODSs for almost all uses, with strictly limited exemptions.

The text includes an exemption for the use of ODSs as feedstock to produce other substances. The Commission will be tasked with regularly updating a list of ODSs whose use as feedstock is banned. The text also permits the use of ODSs under strict conditions as process agents, in laboratories and for fire protection in special applications such as military equipment and airplanes.

The regulation extends the requirement to recover ODSs for destruction, recycling or reclamation to cover sectors such as building materials (insulation foams), refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment, equipment containing solvents or fire protection systems and fire extinguishers and other equipment, if technically and economically feasible.

Next steps

Today’s vote by the Council closes the adoption procedure. The two regulations will now be signed by the Council and the European Parliament. They will then be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later.

Background

Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) are contained in a wide range of products used in everyday life, including fridges, air conditioning and medicines. They are also used in heat pumps and switchgear devices in electric power systems. The effects of F-gases on global warming are up to several hundred thousand times stronger than that of CO₂. Today F-gas emissions represent 2.5% of the EU’s total GHG emissions, but in contrast to other GHG emissions they have doubled between 1990 and 2014.

Ozone depleting substances (ODSs), on the other hand, are human-made chemicals that create a hole in the protective ozone layer, which absorbs cancer-causing ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and reduces the overall amount of UV rays reaching the Earth’s surface.

Both categories are already regulated at EU level through the 2014 F-gas regulation and the 2009 Ozone regulation respectively, in order to fulfil the obligations under the Montreal protocol (1987) and the related Kigali amendment (2019). 

In order to better align with the goals set out by the European Green Deal and further cut emissions of these detrimental substances, on 5 April 2022 the Commission adopted its proposals for a regulation on F-gases and for a regulation on ODSs. The Parliament adopted its stance on the proposals on 30 March 2023, and the Council reached a general approach on 5 April 2023. Following interinstitutional negotiations, the co-legislators reached a provisional agreement on both regulations on 5 October 2023, which was approved by Coreper and the ENVI committee in the same month. The Parliament formally adopted its position on 16 January 2024.