Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the base year for the allocation of quotas of hydrochlorofluorocarbons with respect to the Member States that acceded on 1 May 2004
Date: 2004-08-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accession to the European Union, import (EU), import restriction, production quota, stratospheric pollutant

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 11.8.2004 
COM(2004) 550 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council, as regards the base year for the allocation of quotas of 
hydrochlorofluorocarbons with respect to the Member States that acceded 
on 1 May 2004 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

This proposal to amend the base date in Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 for determining the 
allocation of quotas of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to producers and importers in the 
EU-25  with  respect  only  to  the  10  new  Member  States  that  acceded  on  the  1  May  2004  is 
necessary for the reasons set out below.  

Background 

1999 is the base date in Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  for  the  allocation  of  the  placing  on  the  market  quota  to  importers  for  HCFCs.  The 
application of this base date to the EU-15 resulted in a 4% share of the quota for placing on 
the market being allocated to importers of HCFCs in the EU-15 and, 96 % being allocated to 
EU producers for the years 2003-2009 (Commission Decision 2002/654/EC). 

In  2004,  the  placing  on  the  market  quota  for  HCFCs  for  the  EU-15  is  2003  ODP  tonnes 
(Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000) – 1922.88 ODP tonnes for EU producers and 
80.12 ODP tonnes for importers. 

In the Accession Treaty there is a technical adjustment of the quantity of HCFCs in Annex III 
(placing  on  the  market  quotas)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2037/2000  to  take  account  of  new 
Member  States’  entitlement  to  HCFCs.  For  2004,  the  increase  in  the  placing  on  the  market 
quota  for  HCFCs  is  206  ODP  tonnes.  Since  the  new  Member  States  only  acceded  on  the  1 
May 2004, the effective HCFC quota is 137.33 ODP tonnes (8/12 of the annual quota). There 
was no request for a change in the base date in the accession negotiations. 

From  the  1  May  2004  it  is  necessary  to  adapt  Commission  Decision  2004/176/EC  to  take 
account  of  the  new  Member  States  import  requirements  of  controlled  substances  and,  inter 
alia,  to  allocate  the  HCFC  placing  in  the  market  quota.  It  is  also  necessary  to  amend 
Commission  Decision  2002/654/EC  of  12  August  2002  determining  a  mechanism  for  the 
allocation  of  quotas  to  producers  and  importers  for  hydrochlorofluorocarbons  for  the  years 
2003 to 2009 under Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000. 

Initial Allocation 

The initial draft allocation of the HCFC placing on the market quota was made on the basis of 
the  1999  base  date.  On  the  basis  of  data  supplied  by  the  new  Member  States,  for  2004  the 
percentage  share  of  the  additional  quota  that  would  be  allocated  to  importers  is  3.9%  and 
96.1% to producers in the EU-15 since there are no producers of HCFCs in the new Member 
States.  The  quota  HCFC  quota  available  for  the  EU-10  is  137.33  ODP  tonnes  (8/12  of  the 
annual quota). At the Management Committee Meeting on the 6 May a significant number of 
new Member States, supported by some Member States in the EU-15 and with no opposition, 
called for a more recent base date for allocating HCFCs. A number of reasons were advanced, 
notably  that  it  is  best  to  take  the  most  recent  years  for  the  base  date  in  order  to  reflect 
commercial  reality  and  for  this  reason  the  EU-15  had  changed  the  base  date  in  Regulation 
2037/2000 in 2000.  

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
Arguments for adopting a more recent base date (average 2002 and 2003) 

•  A large majority of the new Member States and EU-15 Member States are supportive of a 

revised base date. 

•  The EU-15 changed the base date in 2000 through an amendment of Regulation (EC) No 
2037/2000  from  1996  to  1999  because  it  had  taken  4  years  for  the  Regulation  to  be 
approved and Member States had requested that the import data for base date should be the 
most recent. 

•  Changing the base date has no environmental consequences; it is a pure commercial matter 

since the total placing on the market quota remains unchanged. 

•  It will allow some commercial operators in the EU-10 in 2002/2003 that had not been in 

the market in 1999 to continue their business. 

•  There is a small shift in overall distribution of HCFC placing on the market quota in EU-
25.  The  producers  overall  share  of  the  HCFC  quota  would  fall  by  0.3%  from  96.0%  to 
95.7% if the base date was changed from 1999 to an average of 2002 and 2003. 

Results of new base date (average of 2002 and 2003) 

Changing the base date from 1999 to an average of 2002 and 2003 would result in importers 
in the new Member States being allocated 10.35 ODP tonnes and producers being allocated 
126.99  ODP  tonnes  compared  to  5.44  ODP  tonnes  and  131.89  ODP  tonnes  respectively  in 
1999.

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council, as regards the base year for the allocation of quotas of 
hydrochlorofluorocarbons with respect to the Member States that acceded 
on 1 May 2004 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  and  in  particular  Article 57  (2) 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal of the Commission1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

1 

2 

Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 
June 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer2 takes 1999 as the base year for 
allocating  quotas  of  hydrochlorofluorocarbons  (HCFCs).  The  HCFC  market  in  the 
ten new Member States has changed considerably since 1999 with the arrival of new 
companies  and  changing  market  shares  with  respect  HCFCS.  The  application  of 
1999 as the base date for the allocation of HCFCs in these new Member States would 
result  in  a  large  number  of  companies  not  receiving  an  import  quota.  This  could 
be considered as being arbitrary and might also result in a breach of the principles of 
non-discrimination and legitimate expectations. 

As  a  general  rule,  quotas  should  be  based  on  the  most  recent  and  representative 
figures available in order to ensure that a number of importing companies in the new 
Member  States  are  not  excluded.  It  is  therefore  appropriate  to  choose  the  years  for 
which  the  most  recent  data  are  available.  In  order  to  best  reflect  the  commercial 
situation  on  the  HCFC  market  in  the  ten  new  Member  States  the  average  market-
share  of  2002  and  2003  should  therefore  be  laid  down  as  basis  for  the  companies 
from those Member States.  

Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly.  

This regulation should apply from the date of accession of the new Member States, 

OJ L 244, 29.9.2000, p. 1 as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1804/2003 (OJ L265, 16.10.2003, p. 
1) 
OJ L 244, 29.9.2000, p. 1 as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1804/2003 (OJ L265, 16.10.2003, p. 
1) 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
                                                 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

In Article 4(3)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 the following point i) is added: “ (i) By 
way of derogation from point (h) each producer and importer in the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
Cyprus,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia  shall  ensure  that 
the calculated level of hydrochlorofluorocarbons which it places on the market or uses for its 
own account shall not exceed, as a percentage of the calculated levels set out in points (b), (d), 
(e) and (f), the average of its percentage market share in 2002 and 2003. 

Article 2 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

It shall apply with effect from 1 May 2004. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN