As already provided, the F-Gas Regulation will shortly be subject to a review by the Legislator. But - as Bente Tranholm-Schwarz, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Climate, explains at the conference organized by shecco and the Danish Technological Institute DTI - the situation in which we find ourselves reviewing the regulation today is very different from that of the 2012, when the regulation was born. The new Commission, which took office in 2019, has set itself the Green Deal or the decarbonisation of the European economy by 2050 as its strategy of action. This new milestone involves the revision of many previously defined climate objectives. For example:

It will be necessary to adjust the emission reduction targets to 2030 today to 40% and explore ways to reach 50-55% reduction levels. These new objectives must be achieved with the contribution of all sectors of the economy and the F-gas Regulation will be revised in light of these new requests;

The Regulation must remain in line with Kigali's objectives, an amendment that did not yet exist in 2012;

In recent years cold technology has seen numerous technological developments. The synthetic refrigerant industry has brought new molecules to the market while the natural refrigerant industry has brought new technologies that have greatly expanded the scope of these molecules, also in geographical terms;

An increasing number of scientific studies have appeared, which analyze the environmental impact of refrigerants and their decomposition molecules once they are released into the atmosphere. The revision process of the F-gas regulation must also take into account the environmental impacts considered in these new studies.

Hard to say now when the review will come to light. By the end of 2021, the Commission will draft its proposal which will then have to be submitted to the comments of the Parliament and the Council of Ministers before being approved. Certainly, in light of the new European context in which the F-gas Regulation will be revised, it is reasonable to expect more ambitious climate targets than the current ones.

With this in mind, in choosing one refrigeration solution over another, it is worth considering all the unknowns that the sector could encounter and choosing the solutions that today appear to be safer in all aspects - environmental, economic, legislative - also bearing in mind that:

The decisions made today on the type of system and refrigerant in new systems will influence the need for procurement for 10-15 years;

The costs of a wrong decision - or not sufficiently far-sighted - will fall on the owner of the plant in the years to come;

A slow phase-down will amplify the problem of HFC supply.