The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) has welcomed the agreement reached at conciliation on the proposal for a Regulation on F-gases, considering the outcome to be a step forward in the fight against climate change. This agreement is a strong signal in support of a containment regime to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases (F-gases) across Europe.
EPEE acknowledged the difficulty of reaching a viable compromise between all the parties involved in this particularly technical issue and sees that the compromise reached will establish a high level of environmental protection as well as an internal market for equipment containing fluorinated gases and personnel involved in installing and servicing it. It is now up to the industry to make it work.
Friedrich Busch, Director General of EPEE, stated after the meeting: “EPEE and its members are looking forward to moving towards compliance with the Regulation across the board. All aspects will be covered: containment, recycling, recovery of F-gases and training and certification. We are keen to demonstrate that with this Regulation we can achieve real emission reductions in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector in the coming years”.
On stricter national measures, Friedrich Busch commented: “This Regulation is about environmental protection and an efficient and open internal market. The best results are achieved when all Member States play by the same rules.”
The EPEE is now keen to see what impact this decision will have on the European Commission’s infringement procedures against Austria and Denmark as regards their national bans on f-gases.