Policy Update

Member States agree on F-Gas compromise proposal (GEN – 1473.00)

Home›Policy Updates›Member States agree on F-Gas compromise proposal (GEN – 1473.00)

GEN – 1473.00. Member states agreed on a mandate for the Presidency to start negotiations with the European Parliament on the F-Gas Regulation revision.

Main Contents of the agreed proposal

The negotiating mandate agreed by Member States amends the proposal’s phase down schedule among other things. In short, the Council proposed to:

  • Lower the HFCs quota allocation price from 3 EUR to 2 EUR
  • Agreed to postpone a number of bans compared to the Commission’s proposal, mainly for heat pumps, in order to put the proposal more in line with the targets set under REPowerEU, and high voltage switchgear. The agreement also clarifies on what grounds possible exemptions can be given for safety reasons
  • Proposed to split the ban of certain split heat pumps into an earlier ban for air-to-water systems, for which alternatives are more widely available, and a later ban for air-to-air systems, where it Is more difficult to use alternatives. To balance this, more quotas for placing on the market of HFCs are introduced
  • Agreed to postpone the reduction of the use of HFCs in metered dose inhalers, or MDIs, to guarantee the safety of patients, and increase the number of quotas
  • Added a safety clause to enable the Commission to react, through delegated acts, to release a limited number of additional quotas if the proposed bans were to endanger the attainment of the heat pumps deployment target required under REPowerEU
  • Included bans on the use of the very potent greenhouse gas SF6, used in electrical switchgear, while adding a number of safeguards in order to avoid that these bans would endanger the functioning of the electric grids
  • Made the provisions on penalties less prescriptive in order for them to better fit different national systems

Next Steps

The Council and the Parliament will now enter so-called ‘trilogue’ negotiations to find an agreement on the final shape of the regulations. The agreement will then need to be formally adopted by both institutions before it can be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force.

Recommended actions

Interested Members are invited to carefully assess the adopted text and provide the Secretariat with their comments to prepare for the upcoming Trilogue.

Related documents and links

All related documents and articles can be found in the respective sections in the right sidebar.

  • GEN – 1473.01 – Mandate for negotiations on fluorinated gases
  • GEN – 1472.00 – FGAS – European Parliament adopts the ENVI report
  • GEN – 1466.00 – FGAS – ENVI report on F-Gas Regulation
  • GEN – 1466.01 – ENVI Compromise amendments
  • GEN – 1461.00 – FGAS – ITRE opinion and Swedish Presidency proposal
  • GEN – 1461.01 – Swedish Presidency Proposal 20230113
  • GEN – 1461.02 – Opinion ITRE Committee
  • GEN – 1461.03 – ENVI collated Amendments
  • GEN – 1451.00 – EU Council note on F-gas and ODS proposals
  • GEN – 1451.01 – Information from the Presidency of EU Council on the state of play
  • GEN – 1447.00 – ENVI and ITRE amendments on F-Gas Regulation.pdf
  • GEN – 1433.00 – Draft Report of the EP ENVI Committee on the F-Gas Review
  • GEN – 1425.00 – Draft opinion of the EP ITRE Committee on the F-Gas Review
  • GEN – 1368.00 – Development HFC prices Q4-2021
  • GEN – 1273.00 – Development HFC prices Q1-2021
  • GEN – 1197.00 – Development of HFC prices Q3-2020
  • GEN – 1194.00 – Report from the European Commission on the availability of HFCs
  • GEN – 1173.00 – F-Gas quota and reporting, Ozone Depleting Substances
  • GEN – 1163.00 – Development of HFC Prices
  • GEN – 1160.00 – F-Gas review consultation
  • GEN – 1120.00 – Development of HFC prices Q1-2020
  • GEN – 1083.00 – Development of HFC prices Q3-2019
  • GEN – 1064.00 – Development of HFC prices Q2-2019
  • GEN – 1057.00 – Price evolutions refrigerants and French carbon tax
  • GEN – 1043.00 – Development of HFC prices
  • GEN – 969.00 – F-Gas industry roundtable
  • GEN – 958.00 – F-Gas recent publications
  • GEN – 896.00 – Öko-Recherche – Monitoring survey on refrigerant prices
  • GEN – 890.00 – F-Gas Regulation Consultation Forum 6 March 2018
  • Recording of the Plenary Session of 30 March 2023
  • Recording of the Debate of 29 March 2023
  • https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/04/05/fluorinated-gases-and-ozone-depleting-substances-member-states-ready-to-negotiate-with-parliament/