Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is urging Berlin to apply the Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) Directive fully to new vehicles manufactured by German car producer Daimler.
On 23 January, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Germany, asking it to apply Directive 2006/40/EC fully to mobile air conditioning systems. Since 1 January 2013, the MAC Directive has obliged all car manufacturers to make the air conditioning systems of their new ranges of cars compatible with the use of a new refrigerant - HFO 1234yf - which is less polluting than its predecessor R134a. This is an obligation with which Daimler has not complied, believing that the refrigerant is dangerous.
The Commission criticises the German authorities responsible for type-approvals of not having acted or imposed appropriate corrective measures on Daimler. It also criticises them for having accepted the request made by one manufacturer to discontinue the use of type-approvals granted to vehicles equipped with the new refrigerant which were already being produced and put on the market, and of granting extensions of old vehicle approvals to those vehicles. Through this measure, the vehicles in question have been allowed a temporary exclusion from compliance with the MAC Directive until 1 January 2017.
In the view of the Commission, there is reason to believe that these extensions were requested with the sole purpose of circumventing the application of the MAC Directive, thus depriving it of its intended effects. Stating that it is determined to ensure respect of the climate objectives of this legislation and the legislation's uniform application throughout the single market, the Commission is giving Berlin two months to fall into line with its legal obligations. (EH/transl.fl)