Council endorses agreement on Commission's proposal to limit F-gases

The Council's Committee of Permanent Representatives endorsed on 18 December an agreement reached between the institutions on the Commission's proposal to significantly reduce emissions of fluorinated gases (F-gases) including the so-called HFCs.

In welcoming the agreement, European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said: "I am very happy to see that our proposal to limit fluorinated gases was unanimously supported by the Council. This legislation will substantially reduce emissions from these extremely powerful greenhouse gases, while spurring technological development and innovation in the European industry. I also hope that this agreement will give renewed political momentum to come to a global agreement on phasing down fluorinated gases under the Montreal protocol."

The new legislation on fluorinated gases F-gases will:

• limit the total amount of the most important F-gases (HFCs) that can be sold in the EU, and reduce this in steps to one-fifth of today's sales in 2030 ("phase-down" measure)
• ban the use of F-gases in some equipment, such as fridges in homes or supermarkets, in air conditioning, in foams and aerosols, for which less harmful alternatives are widely available today
• prevent emissions of F-gases from existing equipment by requiring controls, proper servicing and recovery of the gases at the end of the equipment's life.

Read more:

• IP/12/1180 - Climate action: Commission proposes significant reduction in emissions of climate-warming fluorinated gases
• MEMO/13/1183 - European Commissioner Connie Hedegaard welcomes major step forward to reduce some of the most dangerous greenhouse gases
• Fluorinated Greenhouse gases
• Fluorinated Greenhous gases - policy