Ozone Regulation

The EU ‘Ozone Regulation’ – Regulation (EC) 1005/2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer – provides the legal basis for the protection of the ozone layer within the European Union.

The Ozone Regulation has two objectives:

• Fulfil the obligations of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, to which the EU and all of its Member States are parties.
• Ensure a higher level of ambition in the EU than required by the Protocol, in areas where this is technically and economically feasible.

The Ozone Regulation imposes a number of requirements across the EU, aimed at minimising the use and thus emissions of ozone-depleting substances.

Ozone-depleting substances are generally banned, but there are some exemptions that allow and control the use of such substances in certain specific applications where there still are no feasible alternatives.

The most important provisions concern:

• General prohibitions to produce, place on the market, import or export ozone-depleting substances -including in equipment - as well as a prohibition to use methyl bromide for quarantine and pre-shipment treatment of goods (Articles 4, 5, 6, 11 and 12)
• Exemptions allowing the use of the substances as feedstock, as process agent in specified processes by certain companies and in essential laboratory and analytical processes, as well as temporary exemptions for critical uses of halons in certain equipment (Articles 7, 8, 10, 13)
• Quota allocation to importers and producers (Articles 10(2), 16(1))
• Licensing of imports and exports (Articles 15, 17, 18)
• Registration for essential laboratory and analytical uses (Article 10(4))
• Labelling requirements for containers and equipment with ozone-depleting substances (Articles 7(2), 8(3), 10(3), 11(3) and 11(6))
• Technical requirements during reclamation and destruction of ozone-depleting substances (Article 22)
• Control of leakage and emission when using the ozone-depleting substances (Article 23)
• Annual reporting by national authorities (Article 26)
• Annual reporting by undertakings (Article 27)
• Requirements to perform national inspections (Article 28)

On 5 April 2022 the Commission proposed to change the Regulation on Ozone-depleting substances. This proposal will now be negotiated by the co-legislators in the European Parliament and the Council.

In an evaluation of the current Regulation, the Commission found that the ODS Regulation was working well. Nevertheless, there is a need to:

• Achieve a higher level of emission reduction in light of the European Green Deal.
• Improve the efficiency of some measures in the Regulation, while preserving effective controls and preventing illegal activities.
• Ensure more comprehensive monitoring.
• Improve the coherence of the Regulation with other rules.

The new ODS proposal can prevent climate-relevant and ozone-depleting emissions from insulation foams during renovation or demolition activities.

With this proposal, we want to prevent the equivalent of 180 million tonnes of CO₂ and 32,000 tonnes of ozone depleting potential (ODP) emissions by 2050.

See the evaluation and the impact assessment for more information.

The Ozone Regulation is complemented by more specific EU rules and procedures regarding certain uses of ozone-depleting substances:

• Commission Regulation (EU) 537/2011 on the mechanism for the allocation of quantities of controlled substances allowed for laboratory and analytical uses
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 291/2011 on essential uses of controlled substances other than hydrochlorofluorocarbons for laboratory and analytical purposes
• Commission Decision 2010/372/EU on the use of controlled substances as process agents (updated in 2013)

The European Commission is also responsible for reporting to the UNEP Ozone Secretariat on uses and consumption of ozone-depleting substances in all EU Member States. The UNEP Ozone Secretariat gathers this data in order to monitor international compliance with the Montreal Protocol.