An alliance of 12 leading European associations and global partners active in the European market representing industries manufacturing, servicing and installing heating, cooling, refrigeration and foam insulation solutions call on the European Parliament's Environment Committee to reject amendments which ban fluorinated gases, jeopardising the EU’s climate and energy security goals.
The Committee is scheduled to vote on 1st March on the F-Gas Regulation that aims to reduce emissions from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and related fluorinated substances, which are used in many products, including heat pumps and foam insulation.
“Several of the Committee’s Amendments are simply impossible for industry to achieve,” said Russell Patten, Director General of the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE). “The 12 co-signers of this letter whilst supporting the further phase down of HFCs, are gravely concerned that they will undermine Europe’s carbon neutrality goals and slow down the process of building decarbonisation.”
The letter notes that ENVI’s proposal will jeopardise the goals of REPowerEU and the EU Industrial Green Deal, and that compromise amendments 10, 11, 13, 14 and 21 to the F-gas regulation are particularly problematic. These amendments:
- Propose quota levels for HFCs that will not support the service needs of existing equipment or the roll-out of new energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment;
- Call for unfeasible bans on gases without sufficient consideration of safety, applicability, energy efficiency and cost;
- Disregard critical training and certification requirements for installation and service technicians, most from small businesses;
- Include quota plans that will disincentivise manufacturing within the EU; and
- Give the Commission permission to adapt changes to the regulation without going through the full legislative process.
The associations call for a rejection of these amendments. Russell Patten comments that the Alliance “considers that Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy’s (ITRE) own Opinion, adopted in January 2023, strikes an ambitious yet pragmatic and realistic phase down solution given the availability, and forecast future deployment of the equipment containing non-fluorinated gas alternatives that many EPEE members manufacture and market.”
“We are committed to offering solutions that can mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions,” said Paolo Falcioni, Director General of APPLiA. “However, ENVI's proposal leads to an unrealistically strict scenario leaving the market with no possibility to meet consumers’ demand for renewables and highly efficient cooling and heating technology.”
“We represent the industries that will deliver on decarbonising buildings through innovative heating, cooling and refrigeration solutions,” said Francesco Scudieri, Secretary General of Eurovent. “We are fully committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 and look forward to working with Parliament to achieve our shared goals.”
“We urge MEPs of the ENVI Committee to take a realistic position enabling the deployment of heat pumps across the EU, recognizing the diversity in building tradition, safety standards and building codes,” said Thomas Nowak, Secretary General of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA). “Heat pumps are at the core of the EU efforts for decarbonization of heating. A refrigerant regulation that does not sufficiently value the needs of the sector in providing decarbonised heating and cooling would jeopardise the EU climate neutrality objectives in favour of more polluting devices.”
“As components manufacturers for most of the technologies aiming to be used from Europe to decarbonise, ASERCOM’s members are already striving to provide solutions for the fastest transition to very low GWP solutions, but we need to do it by providing those in a steep but fluid and achievable industrial cycle,” said Marco Masini, ASERCOM President.
Download the full letter and press release below.
