Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Emissions from ozone-depleting substances (ODS) have resulted both in the formation of the ‘hole’ in the ozone layer as well as contributing to global warming. Consequently, the prevention of these emissions is key to preventing health effects resulting from a damaged ozone layer and to reach the targets of the Climate L aw.

The Montreal Protocol and subsequent decisions at global level legally bind the Union and its Member States to phase-out schedules of production and consumption for ODS. The measures taken under the Montreal Protocol to eliminate ODS are estimated to have already achieved some positive effect on the Ozone layer as well as achieving climate-related benefits. The implementation of the Montreal Protocol has also had the effect of avoiding additional global warming between 0.5 and 1.0 degrees Celsius. The ODS Regulation is the main EU instrument to fulfil the obligations under the Protocol and has been one of the first and most successful EU climate policy instruments. The primary objective of the Commission's revision proposal for the ODS Regulation is to build on its success and further reduce emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), many of which are potent greenhouse gases.

The successful provisions of the current ODS regulation are retained according to the Commission's proposal, with some updates and further reduction measures. The main source of remaining ODS emissions in the EU (over 98% in terms of both the total ozone and climate effect) are the result of end-of-life emissions upon demolition of certain building materials, in particular insulation foams. In the absence of measures addressing this problem, annual end-of-life ODS emissions are projected to increase to ca. 6700 tODP or 43 million tCO2e (2030-2035) as a result of increased renovation requirements. The Commission therefore proposes measures to ensure the recovery and avoid emissions of ODS when demolishing or renovating two special building materials. The Commission proposes a ban on the destruction of halons to promote their recycling and reuse. The purpose of the proposal is to prevent the need for future production of halons for areas of critical importance, for example on board military and civilian aircraft. The Commission also proposes that Member States introduce administrative penalty charges and powers for competent authorities to confiscate or seize illegally obtained goods or profits from an infringement.

The view and proposal of the Rapporteur

The rapporteur fully supports the overall approach of the European Commission and welcomes its proposal to revise the ODS regulation. The Rapporteur welcomes the potential of this revision to contribute to additional greenhouse gas savings towards the Union’s climate target to reach at least 55% emission reductions by 2030, as the climate relevance of ODS emissions is not included in the EU’s climate target.

While the rapporteur believes that the Commission proposal is a good way forward as a starting point, she believes that some clarifications and additions are required to avoid duplication and unnecessary administrative burden while at the same time ensuring full compliance with the regulation.

The Rapporteur is of the opinion that the connection between the requirements for administrative sanctions in the proposal and the requirements for criminal penalties in the Commission proposal for an Environmental Crime Directive needs to be clarified. The Rapporteur finds it difficult to see that administrative sanctions and far-reaching powers for administrative authorities should be introduced for the violations specified in the proposal when there should be criminal penalties for the same violations at the same time. Thus, the Rapporteur suggests targeted improvements on the parts of sanctions and penalties to increase and clarify the compliance with the regulation. She suggests a reference to the Environmental Crimes Directive (ECD) aligning the ODS regulation with the ECD regulation and avoiding duplications.

The Rapporteur fully supports the new measures for the recovery of ODS emissions in end-of-life building materials, which would address the vast majority of the remaining sources of ODS emissions in the EU. The Rapporteur also agrees with the Commission that the targeted and limited exemptions still provided under the Regulation for certain process agents and feedstock uses have been carefully assessed and justified by the Commission in terms of the market availability and cost-benefit of alternatives (feedstock), existing phase-out requirements already in force (process agents) and the very limited ozone and climate effects of these derogations (feedstock and process agents). However, the Rapporteur proposes to introduce a rolling review clause on the feedstock exemption in order to assess on a regular basis any developments regarding the future availability of viable alternatives with a cumulatively more positive effect, with the aim to be able to react and exclude such exemptions as soon as viable alternatives are available.

The Regulation has close links to Regulation (EU) 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases as F-gases have replaced ODS in many of their original uses and the F-Gas Regulation builds upon the success and example of the ODS Regulation. The Rapporteur is therefore committed to work constructively and on equal terms with the F-Gas Regulation Rapporteur.