EU deal on F-gases delayed by dispute on heat pumps, timeline

Negotiations on an EU law to crack down on planet-warming fluorinated gases have hit a snag, amid pressure from some EU countries and parts of industry to secure carve-outs for heat pumps.

F-gases were introduced in the nineties to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were being phased out because of the damage they caused to the earth’s ozone layer.

However, their climate footprint is massive, up to 25,000 times worse than CO2. Today, F-gases account for 2.5% of EU greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage similar to the global aviation industry.

In a legislative proposal tabled last year, the European Commission suggested slashing F-gases down to one-fiftieth within the European Union. EU countries and the European Parliament agreed their respective positions in spring this year, paving the way for final negotiations to take place in so-called “trilogue” talks involving the Commission.

Because of the technical nature of the talks, most of the trilogue sessions have so far gone below the radar. The aim was to wrap things up during a session on Wednesday (19 July), with EU countries represented by the Spanish EU Presidency and the European Parliament delegation led by Dutch lawmaker Green Bas Eickhout.

But before midnight, it became clear that an agreement was unreachable and the negotiators called it quits.

“Unfortunately no deal tonight on the revision of the F-gas regulation,” Eickhout said on Twitter.

“Yesterday, an agreement was impossible because we could not land on technical details,” explained an EU diplomat. The European Parliament’s expectations were “too far from the Council’s negotiation mandate” agreed by the 27 EU member states, they added.

“We thought we were quite close to an agreement but could not close,” the EU diplomatic notes, but added that the negotiators “parted on good terms.”

Now, the F-gas law is stuck in limbo as Brussels heads into its traditional August summer recess. “We will try again soon after the summer break,” Eickhout added.

Three issues created the stalemate: heat pumps, switchgear – the boxes that regulate electrical flow – and Annex IV, which sets out rules for when various kinds of products will be banned.

Heat pump makers worried by EU crackdown on climate-warming F-gases

The European Parliament’s environment committee voted on Wednesday (1 March) for a quick phasedown of F-gas refrigerants, in a move that drew criticism from the heat pump industry. 

Heat pump clash, continued

On heat pumps, two camps have crystallised: in one side is the European Parliament, backed by Germany and the Netherlands, who argue that getting rid of F-gases in heat pumps should take priority and largely happen by 2027.

They argue that natural refrigerants like propane should take precedence, given Europe’s manufacturing lead on the technology. “We hope that the Council will still accommodate us,” says Günther Sidl, an Austrian EU lawmaker taking part in the negotiations on behalf of the socialist S&D.

On the other side are Eastern EU countries, who insist that this timeline be partially moved into the late 2020s or early 2030s.

None of the two sides would budge, probably due to German advocacy for natural refrigerants on the one hand and Eastern European advocacy to maintain traditional F-gases in heat pumps on the other.

“The reason we did not reach an agreement yesterday is that the Council was not flexible to make any compromise,” one Parliament source said.

Industry lobbying complicates the situation. Restricting F-gases “risks significantly limiting the number of heat pumps available in certain market segments,” says the European Heat Pump Association, a trade group.

Influential individual manufacturers, like Germany-based Viessmann – who stand to benefit from an earlier switch to natural refrigerants – have come out in favour of parliament’s position.

Key EU lawmaker: Europe 'needs to stay ahead of the game' on heat pump manufacturing

Natural refrigerants like propane are the way forward to replace climate-warming fluorinated gases in heat pumps, Green EU lawmaker Bas Eickhout argues in an interview with EURACTIV.

Last-minute switchgear problem

Another sticking point relates to F-gases used in electrical switchgear.

In July, two weeks before what should have been the final negotiations, Europe’s electricity industry began to ring the alarm. The revision of the F-gas regulation threatened a gas that is instrumental to the industry: SF6.

Sulphur Hexafluoride is a supreme climate-wrecker, coming in at 25,200 times worse than CO2 while simultaneously being instrumental to the functioning of switchgear – the devices that insulate and regulate electrical flows.

The electrification of Europe “means the deployment of millions of switch gears because we will need grids, we will need wind farms, we will need photovoltaic farms,” explained Mélis Isikli from Eurelectric, a trade association.

“All of these need transformer substations, which means SF6 for now,” she told EURACTIV.

While not all switchgear available today relies on SF6, only Schneider Electric and Siemens Energy stand out with solutions that don’t rely on F-gases, which would constrain the market and “cause some issues with supply,” she cautioned.

Some EU countries, including France and Spain, are understood to share the association’s concerns.

Fight over Annex

These diverging opinions come to a head during talks on Annex IV, which sets out dates from which products will be banned based on their application and the F-gases they rely on.

EU countries wanted to scrap any provision banning switchgear in the Annex, while Parliament wants to start as early as 2026.

Other areas where the two failed to agree include the treatment of heat pumps – should different technological varieties of heat pumps be treated differently or not – and air conditioners, where EU countries argue that a ban should come up to four years later than envisioned by Parliament.

“There were difficulties in reaching a full agreement with the Council on some points,” conceded Austrian lawmaker Sidl.

What the f*** are F-gases?!

Since March last year, there has been a renewed lobbying frenzy around F-gases. But what are they and why does this matter for the climate?

[Edited by Alice Taylor and Frédéric Simon]

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