Austria and Denmark told to justify F-gas bans

The Commission has asked Denmark and Austria to justify the bans
imposed on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases
(F-gases) on the basis that they could disrupt the free
movement of goods in the internal market.

The Commission has sent formal requests to Austria and Denmark,
asking them to justify the “far reaching bans” they introduced on
HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) and PFCs (perfluorocarbons) – or
F-gases. The Commission says the bans “may constitute unjustified
barriers to trade and so be contrary to EC Treaty rules on the free
movement of goods”. 

More stringent national measures are tolerated under the
regulation on f-gases approved by the Council on 14 October. Even
so, Austria and Denmark voted against the regulation because it was
incompatible with their own, more restrictive existing requirements
(see EURACTIV, 18 October 2004).

The announcement was welcomed by The European Partnership For
Energy and the Environment (EPEE), an organisation representing
companies manufacturing products such as air-conditioning and
fridges which rely on F-gases. EPEE said it hoped that the
“national measures will be withdrawn, but otherwise looks forward
to the European Commission pressing ahead with the legal challenges
against Denmark and Austria”.

At the time of voting on the regulation, Greenpeace
regretted that the Council did not follow the “lead of countries
like Denmark and Austria”, saying this was “a sad day for the fight
against climate change”.

In a   statement, Austria said it regretted the outcome of the
political agreement on F-gases “due to the obvious lack of ambition
in relation to the possibilities offered by today´s eco-efficient
technologies”. Austria further took note that the “vast experience
of those member states who have taken the lead in this field has
not been taken into account adequately”.

The information requests are part of the first legal steps that
could lead to formal legal action. The bill still has to be
formally approved by parliament in a second reading.

Read more with Euractiv

WWF: human consumption is outpacing earth's capacity

Humans currently consume 20% more natural resources than the earth can produce, according to a WWF report. But the 'ecological footprint' concept underlying the study is disputed by many specialists.