Eurovent, together with 11 major European associations and global partners active on the European market, is calling on the European Parliament's Environment Committee to reject amendments banning F-Gases, jeopardizing the EU's climate and energy security goals.

The Environment Committee voted on the F-Gas regulation on 1 March, which aims to reduce emissions of hydrofluorocarbons and related fluorinated substances, used in many products, including heat pumps and foam insulation.

The 12 associations signed a letter stating that ENVI's proposal will jeopardize the goals of REPowerEU and the EU's Industrial Green Deal and that certain compromised amendments of the F-Gas Regulation are particularly problematic.

Russell Patten, managing director of EPEE, said: “Many of the Committee's amendments are simply impossible for the industry to deliver. The 12 co-signatories to this letter, while supporting the further phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, have serious concerns that they undermine Europe's carbon neutrality goals and slow down the process of decarbonising buildings.

The amendments concerned are 10, 11, 13, 14 and 21, which:

• Propose quota levels for HFCs that cannot support the service needs of existing equipment or the introduction of new energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment;
• Demand to ban the use of gasses without sufficient consideration of safety, applicability, energy efficiency and costs;
• Fail to address critical training and certification requirements for installation and service engineers, most of whom come from small businesses;
• Include quota plans that will disincentive production within the EU;
• Authorize the European Commission to adopt changes to the Regulation without going through the entire legislative process.