BRUSSELS - European Union lawmakers and governments have agreed on rules that would clamp down on environmentally harmful fluorinated gases that are found in a range of products including cars, appliances and shoes.
Known as F-gases, they are used in refrigeration and air conditioning and are considered much more potent in warming the earth than the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2).
The rules, first proposed by the European Commission in 2003, would ban some products like sports shoes with F-gases in air pockets from the 25-nation bloc.
A related law will prohibit the use of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 134a, a refrigerant used globally in car air conditioners, from January 2011 in new vehicle models and from January 2017 in all new vehicles in the EU.
Commission officials have said the rules will apply to all cars sold in the EU, whether manufactured in Europe or imported.
The measures are part of the EU's commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to cut emissions of gases blamed for global warming.
The European Parliament and EU member states had haggled over whether some countries could keep their own stricter rules on F-gases or adjust them to the EU standards to avoid disrupting the bloc's internal market.
The agreement, reached late on Tuesday, allows countries with stronger rules like Denmark and Austria to keep them, and other countries like Sweden to adopt stronger ones if desired.
But it sets a cut-off date of December 31, 2012 - the end of the first phase covered by Kyoto - after which such exceptions would expire.
The agreement allows for a revision of that clause, leaving the door open for further changes in light of future international environment commitments.
"There is no reduction in the standards we wanted," said conservative parliament member Avril Doyle, who spearheaded the bill. "Our agreement allows some member states to maintain stricter measures and others to introduce such measures but under precise circumstances."
The European Commission welcomed the compromise.
"It is an important first step because most F-gases have a global warming effect thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide," said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
The agreement would "make a significant contribution to the EU's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to meet its Kyoto commitments", he said.
A parliament spokesman said the rules would probably enter into force by mid-2006.
The fluorinated gases covered by the rules include HFCs, perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), all of which make up two percent of EU greenhouse gas emissions now.
The Commission estimates the measures will lower emissions of those gases by more than 20 percent from 1995 levels by 2012.
SF6, it said, was 23,900 times more potent in its global warming effects than CO2.
The European Union currently has an emissions trading scheme where companies can buy and sell the rights to emit C02.
Story by Jeff Mason
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
