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ORDINARY LEGISLATIVE procedure

Symbols for procedures

Follow up to the European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009

* Consultation procedure

1. Rapporteur: Jessica POLFJÄRD (EPP / SE)

*** Consent procedure

2. Reference numbers: 2022/0100 (COD) / A9-0050/2023 / P9_TA(2024)0001

***I Ordinary legislative procedure (first reading)

3. Date of adoption of the resolution: 16 January 2024

***II Ordinary legislative procedure (second reading)

4. Legal basis: Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

***III Ordinary legislative procedure (third reading)

5. Competent Parliamentary Committee: Committee on Environments, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI)

(The type of procedure depends on the legal basis proposed by the draft act.)

6. Commission's position: accepts all amendments.

Amendments to a draft act

Amendments by Parliament set out in two columns

Deletions are indicated in bold italics in the left-hand column. Replacements are indicated in bold italics in both columns. New text is indicated in bold italics in the right-hand column.

The first and second lines of the header of each amendment identify the relevant part of the draft act under consideration. If an amendment pertains to an existing act that the draft act is seeking to amend, the amendment heading includes a third line identifying the existing act and a fourth line identifying the provision in that act that Parliament wishes to amend.

Amendments by Parliament in the form of a consolidated text

New text is highlighted in bold italics. Deletions are indicated using either the ▌symbol or strikeout. Replacements are indicated by highlighting the new text in bold italics and by deleting or striking out the text that has been replaced.

By way of exception, purely technical changes made by the drafting departments in preparing the final text are not highlighted.

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009

(COM(2022)0151 – C90143/2022 – 2022/0100(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2022)0151),

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C90143/2022),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 15 June 2022,

– after consulting the Committee of the Regions,

– having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A90000/2022),

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 9 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(9a) The derogations that continue to be applicable for a limited number of ozone-depleting substances used as feedstock in the chemical production of certain indispensable goods, including pharmaceuticals, are justified in light of their low combined ozone-depleting potential (>1tODP) and the lack of feasible alternative options, in combination with the risk of increased hydrofluorocarbon-23 emissions and the higher energy use associated with potential alternative options. However, the Commission should regularly assess the availability of alternative options, taking into account their overall impacts in terms of ozone-depleting potential, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and efficiency, and economic and technical feasibility and cost, in order to enable the Commission to respond rapidly in the form of a legislative proposal for a targeted revision with the aim of excluding the relevant feedstock use from the scope of the derogation set out in Article 6.

Or. en

Amendment 2

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 35

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(35) It is also necessary to provide for administrative penalties of such a level and type that truly deter violations of this Regulations.

(35) Penalties provided for should be of such a level and type that truly deter violations of this Regulations.

Or. en

Amendment 3

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 36

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(36) Serious infringements of this Regulation should also be prosecuted under criminal law, in accordance with Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council27 .

(36) Serious infringements of this Regulation should also be prosecuted under criminal law, in accordance with Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council27. Taking into account that whereas administrative and criminal offences are different in nature, they are not mutually exclusive, administrative penalties would be imposed by the competent authority in the framework of administrative proceedings and criminal penalties by the criminal court in a Member State in accordance with Directive 2008/99/EC.

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27 Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law (OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28).

27 Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law (OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28).

Or. en

Amendment 4

Proposal for a regulation

Article 6 – paragraph 1 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

By ... [5 years after the date of entry into force of this Regulation] and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall assess the availability of alternatives, taking into account the impacts in terms of ozone-depleting potential, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and efficiency, and economic and technical feasibility and cost. The Commission shall submit the conclusions of those assessments to the European Parliament and to the Council. Where the Commission concludes in its assessment that a feasible alternative is available for a particular use as feedstock, the Commission shall, where appropriate, submit a legislative proposal for a targeted revision with the aim of excluding the relevant use as feedstock from the scope of the derogation set out in Article 6.

Or. en

Amendment 5

Proposal for a regulation

Article 27 – paragraph 4 – point c

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(c) suspension or revocation of the authorisation to carry out activities as these fall under the scope of this Regulation.

deleted

Or. en

Amendment 6

Proposal for a regulation

Article 27 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

In cases of unlawful production, import, export, placing on the market, or use of ozone depleting substances listed in Annex I or of products and equipment containing those substances or whose functioning relies upon those substances, Member States shall envisage maximum administrative fines of at least five times the market value of the concerned substances or products and equipment concerned. In case of a repeated infringement within a five-year period, the Member States shall envisage maximum administrative fines of at least eight times the market value of the concerned substances or products and equipment concerned.

In cases of unlawful production, import, export, placing on the market, or use of ozone depleting substances listed in Annex I or of products and equipment containing those gases or whose functioning relies on those gases, and where such cases of unlawful production, import, export, placing on the market or use are not considered environmental crimes under Directive 2008/99/EC or national law, Member States shall envisage maximum administrative fines of at least five times the market value of the concerned gases or products and equipment concerned. In case of a repeated infringement within a five-year period, the Member States shall envisage maximum administrative fines of at least eight times the value of the gases or products and equipment concerned.

Or. en

Amendment 7

Proposal for a regulation

Article 27 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

Article 27a

Member States shall ensure that where administrative fines are to be imposed pursuant to Article 27(5) such administrative fines may be imposed either by way of administrative procedures or by initiating proceedings for the imposition of fines, or both.

Or. en

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

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.