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            DIRECTIVE 2006/40/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL         

of 17 May 2006         

relating to emissions from air-conditioning systems in motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 14 March 2006,

Whereas:

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Subject matter

This Directive lays down the requirements for the EC type-approval or national type-approval of vehicles as regards emissions from, and the safe functioning of, air-conditioning systems fitted to vehicles. It also lays down provisions on retrofitting and refilling of such systems.

Article 2

Scope

The Directive shall apply to motor vehicles of categories M1 and N1 as defined in Annex II of Directive 70/156/EEC. For the purpose of this Directive, vehicles of category N1 are limited to those of class I as described in the first table in point 5.3.1.4 of Annex I to Council Directive 70/220/EEC of 20 March 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States on measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles (8), as inserted by Directive 98/69/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:

Article 4

Obligations of the Member States

1.   Member States shall grant, as appropriate, EC type-approval or national type-approval, with regard to emissions from air conditioning systems, only to vehicle types that satisfy the requirements of this Directive.

2.   For the purpose of granting whole vehicle type-approval pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 70/156/EEC, Member States shall ensure that manufacturers supply information on the type of refrigerant used in air-conditioning systems fitted to new motor vehicles.

3.   For the purpose of type-approval of vehicles fitted with air-conditioning systems designed to contain a fluorinated greenhouse gas with a global warming potential higher than 150, Member States shall ensure that, in accordance with the harmonised leakage detection test referred to in Article 7(1), the leakage rate of such gases shall not exceed the maximum permissible limits laid down in Article 5.

Article 5

Type-approval

1.   With effect from six months from the date of adoption of a harmonised leakage detection test, Member States may not, on grounds relating to emissions from air conditioning systems:

if the vehicle fitted with an air-conditioning system designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150 complies with the requirements of this Directive.

2.   With effect from 12 months from the date of adoption of a harmonised leakage detection test or 1 January 2007, whichever is later, Member States shall no longer grant EC type-approval or national type-approval for a type of vehicle fitted with an air-conditioning system designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150, unless the rate of leakage from that system does not exceed 40 grams of fluorinated greenhouse gases per year for a single evaporator system, or 60 grams of fluorinated greenhouse gases per year for a dual evaporator system.

3.   With effect from 24 months from the date of adoption of a harmonised leakage detection test or 1 January 2008, whichever is later, in respect of new vehicles fitted with air-conditioning systems designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150, unless the rate of leakage from that system does not exceed 40 grams of fluorinated greenhouse gases per year for a single evaporator system or 60 grams of fluorinated greenhouse gases per year for a dual evaporator system, Member States shall:

4.   With effect from 1 January 2011 Member States shall no longer grant EC type-approval or national type-approval for a type of vehicle fitted with an air conditioning system designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150.

5.   With effect from 1 January 2017, in respect of new vehicles which are fitted with an air-conditioning system designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150, Member States shall:

6.   Without prejudice to relevant Community law, in particular Community rules on State aid and Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services (13), Member States may promote the installation of air-conditioning systems which are efficient, innovative and further reduce the climate impact.

Article 6

Retrofitting and refilling

1.   With effect from 1 January 2011, air-conditioning systems designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150 shall not be retrofitted to vehicles type-approved from that date. With effect from 1 January 2017, such air-conditioning systems shall not be retrofitted to any vehicles.

2.   Air-conditioning systems fitted to vehicles type-approved on or after 1 January 2011 shall not be filled with fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150. With effect from 1 January 2017 air conditioning systems in all vehicles shall not be filled with fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential higher than 150, with the exception of refilling of air-conditioning systems containing those gases, which have been fitted to vehicles before that date.

3.   Service providers offering service and repair for air-conditioning systems shall not fill such equipment with fluorinated greenhouse gases if an abnormal amount of the refrigerant has leaked from the system, until the necessary repair has been completed.

Article 7

Implementing measures

1.   By 4 July 2007, the Commission shall adopt the measures for the implementation of Article 4 and Article 5, and in particular:

2.   The Commission shall adopt the measures in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13 of Directive 70/156/EEC.

3.   The Commission shall publish these measures in the Official Journal of the European Union.

4.   The procedure referred to in paragraph 2 shall apply to the adoption, where appropriate, of:

Article 8

Review

1.   On the basis of progress in potential containment of emissions from, or replacement of, fluorinated greenhouse gases in air-conditioning systems fitted to motor vehicles, the Commission shall examine whether:

and shall publish a report by 4 July 2011. Where necessary, it shall present appropriate legislative proposals.

2.   Where a fluorinated greenhouse gas with a global warming potential higher than 150, which is not yet covered by the IPCC report referred to in Article 3(8), is included in a future report of the IPCC, the Commission shall assess whether it is appropriate to amend this Directive in order to include that gas. If the Commission considers it necessary, it shall, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13 of Directive 70/156/EEC:

Article 9

Amendments to Directive 70/156/EEC

Directive 70/156/EEC is hereby amended in accordance with Part 1 of the Annex to this Directive.

Article 10

Transposition

1.   Member States shall adopt and publish by 4 January 2008 the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive.

They shall apply those measures from 5 January 2008.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2.   Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 12

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Strasbourg, 17 May 2006.

For the European Parliament

The President

J. BORRELL FONTELLES            

For the Council

The President

H. WINKLER            

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(1)OJ C 108, 30.4.2004, p. 62.

(2)  Opinion of the European Parliament of 31 March 2004 (OJ C 103 E, 29.4.2004, p. 600), Council Common Position of 21 June 2005 (OJ C 183 E, 26.7.2005, p. 17) and Position of the European Parliament of 26 October 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Legislative Resolution of the European Parliament of 6 April 2006 and Council Decision of 25 April 2006.

(3)OJ L 130, 15.5.2002, p. 1.

(4)  See page 1 of this Official Journal.

(5)OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(6)OJ L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2006/28/EC (OJ L 65, 7.3.2006, p. 27).

(7)OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1.

(8)OJ L 76, 6.4.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2003/76/EC (OJ L 206, 15.8.2003, p. 29).

(9)OJ L 350, 28.12.1998, p. 1.

(10)OJ L 244, 29.9.2000, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 29/2006 (OJ L 6, 11.1.2006, p. 27).

(11)  IPCC Third Assessment Climate Change 2001. A Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/reports.htm).

(12)  For the calculation of the GWP of non-fluorinated greenhouse gases in preparations, the values published in the First IPCC Assessment shall apply, see: Climate Change, The IPCC Scientific Assessment, J.T. Houghton, G.J. Jenkins, J.J. Ephraums (ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK) 1990.

(13)OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37. Directive as last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession.

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ANNEX

PART 1

Directive 70/156/EEC is amended as follows:

PART 2

Method of calculating the total global warming potential (GWP) for a preparation

The total GWP for a preparation is a weighted average, derived from the sum of the weight fractions of the individual substances multiplied by their GWPs.

Σ (Substance X % × GWP) + (Substance Y % × GWP) + ... (Substance N % × GWP)

where % is the contribution by weight with a weight tolerance of +/- 1 %.

For example: applying the formula to a theoretical blend of gases consisting of 23 % HFC-32; 25 % HFC-125 and 52 % HFC-134a;

Σ (23 % × 550) + (25 % × 3 400) + (52 % × 1 300)

→ Total GWP = 1 652,5.

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