The European Parliament and European Union (EU) environment ministers have agreed on new rules to combat emissions of fluorinated gases that have tremendous impacts on global warming, the EU Council said Wednesday.

The legislation agreed includes a regulation tackling emissions from stationary applications using these gases as well as banning some products and equipment containing them, and a directive providing for the phasing out of the fluorinated gases currently used in vehicle air conditioning systems.

For the legislation to come into effect, it must now be endorsed by a majority of votes in the European Parliament and by qualified majority within the council of environment ministers. This process is expected to complete by mid-2006.

Member states will then have 18 months to transpose the directive, while the regulation will enter into force unchanged 20 days after its publication in the EU official journal and will apply 12 months from the date of entry into force.

The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, welcomed the agreement on Wednesday.

"The legislation agreed today will make a significant contribution to the EU's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to meet its Kyoto (Protocol) commitments," said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

"It is an important first step because most F-gases have a global warming effect thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. By agreeing on this legislation, the EU has once again demonstrated its commitment to the fight against climate change."

Fluorinated gases are extremely powerful and long-lived greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, fire- fighting, electrical transmission systems and various industry processes.

They were introduced in the 1990s to replace ozone-depleting CFCs and HCFCs before scientists realized they were a significant factor in contributing to global warming.

Reducing their emissions is a requirement under the Kyoto Protocol and will help the EU and its member states meet their emission targets under the protocol, said the commission.

The fluorinated greenhouse gases covered are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). These gases currently account for two percent of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. However, their warming impact on the atmosphere is high and many of them have long atmospheric lifetimes, said the commission.

For example, SF6 has a global warming potential 23,900 times that of carbon dioxide, which is the most common greenhouse gas.

If no measures were taken, the commission estimates that emissions of fluorinated gases would be 50 percent above 1995 levels in 2010. With the measures agreed on Tuesday, they will be reduced by more than 20 percent from 1995 levels by 2012 and by even more subsequently.

The regulation will reduce emissions by focusing on the containment of these gases, notably by setting leakage inspection standards for refrigeration, air conditioning and fire fighting equipment as well as provisions for the recovery of the gases from such equipment when it reaches the end of its life.

The regulation will strengthen monitoring of the emissions of the gases, introduce labeling of certain products and equipment so that key information on these gases is made available, and set up EU-wide minimum standards for training and certification for personnel concerned.

Furthermore, where containment is not feasible or the use of certain fluorinated gases is inappropriate, marketing and use will be banned.

The directive, on the other hand, will phase out HFC-134a, the refrigerant currently used in car air conditioning system, from Jan.1, 2011 onward for new vehicle models and from Jan. 1, 2017 for all new vehicles.

Under both the regulation and the directive, member states are invited to promote the use of more environment friendly technologies and alternatives.

Source: Xinhua