WRITTEN QUESTION E-0315/02 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission. Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
Date: 2002-02-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU statistics, household electrical appliance, scientific report, stratospheric pollutant, waste management

29.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 205 E/113

The purpose of this standard letter is to inform witnesses that their testimonies are being made available to
defendants in an ongoing disciplinary procedure in order to allow those defendants to be informed of the
allegations against them and to enable them to prepare their defence. The intention of the letter is to
assure these witnesses that neither the Commission, nor the defendants, will be allowed to use the
testimonies in any context other than that of the relevant disciplinary procedure being undertaken.

The letter therefore has no bearing whatsoever on the rights of expression of the witnesses concerned. The
wording could only be considered to be a call to a witness to ‘keep quiet’
if it had been seriously
misinterpreted. Over many years, the Commission has had no previous complaint or claim that such
letters are motivated by an intention to secure the silence of witnesses. However, in order to avoid any
future possibility of accidental or deliberate misunderstanding, the wording of this standard letter is being
reviewed.

The letter, rather than ‘silencing’ witnesses, merely serves to keep witnesses informed of the procedure and
to assure them that the confidentiality of their statements will be respected by the Commission. A system
of notification which properly advises defendants of testimonies that relate to them, and properly advises
witnesses that defendants have been informed,
is specifically intended to be among the means of
safeguarding the civil rights of both witnesses and defendants. Rather than contradicting the essential
freedoms of expression and justice it is a procedure which is clearly motivated by the desire to protect
those precious liberties of the individual, and it is completely consistent with the best practises and ‘culture’
of democracy in all parts of the Union.

The Commission therefore maintains the view that the Head of the Disciplinary Office of the Commission
acted correctly in following the standard procedure of sending this letter.

(2002/C 205 E/125)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0315/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone

layer

What scientific evidence exists to justify the removal of insulation material from domestic refrigerators and
freezers before disposal of the appliances?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Old used domestic refrigerators and freezers are likely to contain ozone depleting substances such as
chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs)
in both the cooling circuit and in the rigid insulating foam used in the
construction of the storage cabinet. When CFCs are discussed in relation to the cold appliance sector
attention is often focussed on the refrigerant, but in reality more CFCs were used as the foam-blowing
agent in the production of the rigid insulating foam. It is estimated that in a domestic refrigerator the
average refrigerant charge in the cooling circuit is about 170 grams (25 % of the total CFC in the
refrigerator) compared to around 510 grams in the insulating foam (75 % of the total CFC).

It is difficult to obtain exact data on the number of domestic refrigerators and freezers that is coming into
the waste stream each year and which are containing CFCs. However, it is estimated that the stock of
domestic cold appliances in (refrigerators, combined refrigerator and deep freeze and deep freeze) in the
Community is around 230 million units.

This is based on the following calculation:

9 Number of households in the Community 9 ± 150 million;

9 All households have either a fridge or combined fridge and deep freeze = 150 million units;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

9 50 % of households have a deep freeze = 75 million units;

9 Estimated 5 million units in hotels, shops, restaurants, offices etc;

9 Grand Total = 230 million units (1).

If it is assumed that such appliances are replaced every 10 years and in some Member States this is more
often, then around 23 million domestic cold appliances are entering the waste stream each year. Given
that most of the refrigerators and freezers now entering the waste stream will have been produced prior to
1995 before manufacturers stopped using CFCs in such products, it can be assumed that most of them
contain CFCs. On the basis of 680 grams of CFC per unit the total amount of CFCs that could be
recovered from cold appliances is estimated at around 15 640 tonnes. If a recovery rate of 80 % based on
best practice is assumed, around 12 512 tonnes of CFCs could be recovered.

The basis of the calculation is:

9 Stock of domestic cold appliances in the Community: 230 million;

9 Replacement rate per year 9 10 % (average life of cold appliance 10 years);

9 Number of fridges replaced per year = 23 million (10 % of 230 million);

9 CFC per unit = 680 grams;

9 Total potential recovery = (23 000 000 × 680) / 1 000 = 15 640 000 kg = 15 640 tonnes;

9 Recovery with 80 % rate = 12 512 tonnes.

This recovery potential of 15 640 tonnes has to be seen in the context of overall Commission policy to
phase out CFCs. In 1999 Community production of all CFCs, excluding non-dispersive uses such as
feedstock (CFCs used to produce other chemicals, mainly teflon, where the CFC is entirely changed from its
original composition) amounted to around 31 000 tonnes, most of it for export to developing countries
for their basic domestic needs and essential uses. In the Community the use of CFCs is now prohibited in
most applications. There is an exemption for a number of essential uses, such as metered dose inhalers
used by asthma patients that authorises the use of around 3 600 tonnes per annum. But, even such
exemptions are progressively being reduced. In addition, developing countries are now in the process of
their phase-out of CFCs which should be completed by 2010.

All these efforts are being undertaken to protect the ozone layer when it is at a critical stage in its
recovery. A recent assessment Report on European research in the stratosphere concluded that
developments in relation to the ozone layer are still of major concern. The main findings conclude that
first,
large ozone losses have occurred in the Arctic during each of the five coldest winters since
1993/1994. Secondly, stratospheric ozone amounts over mainland Europe that started to decline in the
1970s, with bigger decreases (5-10 % in the ozone column) occurring in winter and spring seasons have
led to increases in biologically active ultraviolet (UV) at the ground,
in line with the reduced ozone
amounts. Such developments have important negative impacts on human health such as increased skin
cancers and a reduction in immune responses and also on sensitive eco-systems. Full ozone recovery can
only be expected when the chlorine amounts in the atmosphere return to pre-ozone hole levels in 50 or
so years but there is concern that this recovery could be compromised by the impact of climate change
and other trace gases on the stratosphere.

The Community is committed through its Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the Parliament and of the
Council of 29 June 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (2) in implementing its obligations
under the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement based on scientific evidence. In this context, the
Commission believes that there are sound scientific and environmental reasons for making cost-effective
in conformity with Article 16 of
efforts to recover and to destroy CFCs.

It is necessary,

therefore,

29.8.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 205 E/115

Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000, to ensure that CFCs are recovered and destroyed, including from the foam
in domestic refrigerators and freezers. There are proven commercial technologies for extracting the CFC
from insulating foam which are being used in at least eight Member States.

Establishing recovery facilities to process the waste stream of domestic refrigerators and freezers is a long-
term investment. As indicated, many of the domestic refrigerators and freezers entering the waste stream
currently contain CFCs. Their replacements could contain Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), also a
controlled substance, and more recently Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent greenhouse gas controlled by
the Kyoto Protocol, which should also be recovered. Such recovery facilities would also eventually facilitate
implementation of the proposed Directive (2) of the Parliament and of the Council on waste electrical and
electronic equipment.

(1) Source: Eurostat.
(2) OJ L 244, 29.9.2000.

(2002/C 205 E/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0320/02

by Christopher Beazley (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Preparations for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on the Council and the Commission, together with the Member
States, where appropriate, to ‘facilitate the creation by the end of 2001 of a very high-speed transeuropean
network for electronic scientific communications, with EIB support,
linking research institutions and
universities, as well as scientific libraries, scientific centres and, progressively, schools’. Was this target met?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2002)

The Commission, in co-operation with the Member States, welcomes the fact that the above stated goal of
the 2000 European Council was reached in time, moving Europe’s high-speed transeuropean network for
research into a very good positioning in global terms.

The interconnection of the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Europe has a very high
political importance as it constitutes one of the major building blocks for the Next Generation Internet and
the foundation for the European Research Area (ERA).

In this context, Europe has since 1 November 2001 a fully operational trans-european network (GEANT)
running at 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) and interconnecting thirty two (32) NRENs. This corresponds to
an increased factor of sixteen times since 2000.

In parallel the NRENs have been upgraded and thus, globally, the access capacities of all European research
institutes and universities has been significantly increased.

The Honourable Member will find in the annex which is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to
Parliament’s Secretariat useful data that shows that Europe is in a very competitive position in international
terms.

For highly demanding research communities (e.g. CERN, European Molecular Biology Laboratory),
complementary experimental GRIDs infrastructures are also being deployed.