Jessica Polfjärd (EPP, Swedish), rapporteur in the European Parliament for the revision of the 2009 regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (EC regulation 1005/2009, so-called ‘ODS’ regulation), welcomes the Commission’s proposal as potentially beneficial for health and the climate, but would like to streamline its provisions.
Presenting her draft report to members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on Tuesday 8 November, she told her colleagues that her main aim was to avoid too much bureaucracy, especially for SMEs.
The update of the ODS Regulation, the main instrument for implementing the Montreal Protocol, which already bans the import, export and use of ODS, aims to strengthen its effectiveness by preventing emissions of ODS, which were previously allowed in certain applications, such as insulating foams in the building sector (see EUROPE 12926/3).
Full support for the objectives “This regulation is very important to prevent the health impacts of a damaged ozone layer and to achieve the objectives of the climate law. It has already had a positive impact on the ozone layer, but more needs to be done to match the EU’s climate ambitions”, said the rapporteur, expressing his full support for the proposal. This is especially true since ODS have a much greater global warming potential than CO2 and are not covered by the Montreal Protocol, she said.
In particular, she supports the new measures for the recovery of ODS from end-of-life construction materials, as these measures will address the majority of the emissions of these substances that remain in the EU. However, she believes that the text needs to be improved.
No duplication with the Environmental Crime Directive. Ms Polfjärd is concerned about the administrative sanctions and penalties for violators of the future ODS Regulation, which could overlap with the Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. She therefore suggests clarifying the sanctions and penalties for infringements by referring to the Environmental Crime Directive currently under revision (see EUROPE 13046/15).
Regular review of exemptions. While supporting targeted and limited exemptions for certain processes and uses, duly assessed and justified by the European Commission, Ms Polfjärd would like to see a rolling review clause for the exemption of synthetic intermediates in order to remove this exemption as soon as viable alternatives are available.
Her draft report was well received by the political groups that spoke.
The S&D group wants to strengthen the social dimension by focusing on training and retraining programmes for workers and on respect for safety conditions at the workplace - provisions which, according to this political group, should be included in the chapter on ‘sanctions’ for breaches of the rules.
The Renew Europe group welcomed the rapporteur’s recommendations.
The Greens/EFA said that the EU must send “the right signal to industry to find alternatives or use existing ones”. They will table amendments to: - reduce exemptions; - strengthen the labelling provisions for products containing these ODS; - require more than just monitoring of new ODS (Annex II of the text) that could prevent the ozone layer from recovering; - propose measures to limit by-products (such as HFC 23); - introduce minimum sanctions.
The ECR group welcomed “an excellent report”, but is concerned about the introduction of a single European portal for customs, the monitoring of imported ODS, and the ending of reporting requirements for laboratories for analysis (Article 8), which would allow the use of prohibited substances. It also wants assurances that current licences will be preserved in the transitional period.
The draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/3z8 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)