Brussels, 26/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission decided to begin another stage of the infringement procedure against Italy and Malta, which despite several reminders, have persistently failed to respect the EU regulation on fluorinated gases (No. 842/2006). These two member states will receive a reasoned opinion (second stage of the procedure) for having failed to communicate to the Commission their training and certification requirements for companies and personnel involved in activities related to industrial gases that contribute to global warming. They will have two months to ensure that their national legislation complies with EU legislation. If they fail to do so, the Commission could take them to the European Court of Justice. Fluorinated gases have a global warming potential which is, in certain cases, several thousand times higher than that for CO2 gases. (AN/transl.fl)