“Unfortunately no deal tonight”, MEP Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Dutch) posted with a certain disappointment on his Twitter account just before midnight on Wednesday, 19 July. And with good reason: negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission had just finished their third meeting (trilogue) for interinstitutional negotiations—the first under the Spanish Presidency—on the European Commission’s proposal dated 5 April 2022 (see EUROPE 12926/3) on fluorinated greenhouse gases, for which Mr Eickhout is the European Parliament’s rapporteur.
According to the Dutch MEP, although the various parties “gave it [their] all”, the discussions on this proposal—which aims to amend Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and repeal Regulation (EU) No. 517/2014 so as to establish a downward trend in both the production and consumption of these gases—still have not led to a “balance” [being struck].
“Not surprisingly”, the issue of the dates of entry into force of the bans on certain products and equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases, notably the heat pumps listed in Annex IV, as well as the timetable for gradually phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) presented in Annex VII, as proposed by the European Commission, are still at the heart of the discussions, according to a source close to the dossier.
The European Parliament put forward the idea of expanding the sectors affected by these bans and clearly expressed its desire to strengthen measures to reduce HFCs, aiming for them to be totally eliminated by 2050. For its part, the Council of the European Union asked for additional time and recommended extending the timetable for implementing these measures.
The next trilogue is scheduled to take place after the summer [break], but no specific date for continuing discussions has been announced yet. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)