Skip to content
Adopted text

Fluorinated gases regulation

TA-9-2023-0092 · P9_TA(2023)0092 · PE737.211

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 28 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the proposed regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases sets rules to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), ban certain products and equipment, and extend recovery, certification and reporting duties. It bans non-refillable containers, restricts exports of listed products, and requires producer responsibility schemes and certification for technicians handling alternatives. It sets a quota price of five euro per tonne of CO2 equivalent for 2024-2026, increasing every three years, and reserves quotas for metered dose inhalers. It requires the Commission to monitor the heat pump and semiconductor markets and to report on implementation by 1 January 2027.

Key points

  1. The regulation applies to fluorinated greenhouse gases listed in Annexes I, II and III, and to products and equipment containing them or relying partly or entirely on them.
  2. Operators must prevent leakage, including through leak checking and progressive installation of leakage detection systems, including on residential heat pumps.
  3. Producers and importers must document mitigation measures and proof of destruction or recovery of trifluoromethane by-product emissions.
  4. Operators must recover sulfuryl fluoride after fumigation from 2025 where technically feasible and not disproportionately costly.
  5. Member States must require extended producer responsibility schemes for recovery, recycling, reclamation or destruction of fluorinated greenhouse gases by 31 December 2027.
  6. Member States must establish or adapt certification and training programmes for natural persons handling fluorinated gases and alternatives, and notify the Commission.
  7. The placing on the market of new equipment for refrigeration, air-conditioning, fire protection, foams and technical aerosols containing fluorinated greenhouse gases is banned where alternatives exist.
  8. The import, placing on the market, supply, use and export of non-refillable containers for fluorinated greenhouse gases are prohibited, except for laboratory or analytical uses.
  9. The export of products and equipment listed in Annex IV, except military equipment, is prohibited from the date specified in that Annex.
  10. The use of fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential of 2 500 or more for servicing or maintenance of air conditioning, heat pumps, mobile and stationary refrigeration and chillers is prohibited from 1 January 2024.
  11. The use of desflurane as inhalation anaesthetic is prohibited from 1 January 2026 except when strictly required and combined with a capture system.
  12. The Commission must monitor the heat pump and semiconductor markets and may adopt delegated acts to adjust quotas or exclude the semiconductor sector from the quota system.

Who is affected

  • Producers and importers of fluorinated greenhouse gases, who must hold quotas, pay amounts due and document compliance.
  • Operators of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump equipment, who must prevent leaks and recover gases.
  • Technicians and undertakings handling fluorinated gases or alternatives, who must be certified or trained.
  • The heat pump industry, which may receive additional HFC quotas if the phase-down disrupts the market.
  • The metered dose inhaler sector, which receives reserved quotas for the first two allocation periods.

Figures and deadlines

  • HFC supply declined by 37 % in metric tonnes and 47 % in tonnes CO2 equivalent from 2015 until 2019.
  • RePowerEU Plan envisages an additional 20 million new heat pumps by 2026 and nearly 60 million by 2030.
  • RePowerEU Plan includes a target to roll out 10 million hydronic heat pumps by 2027.
  • Exemption for placing on the market of products and equipment can be authorised for a period of maximum 4 years.
  • MDI sector should receive quotas corresponding to 70% of its current consumption during the second allocation period.
  • Quota price equals five euro for each tonne of CO2 equivalent for the period 2024-2026.
  • Minimum administrative fines of at least four times the market value of the gases or products concerned.
  • Maximum administrative fines of at least ten times the value of the gases or products and equipment concerned for repeated infringement.