News

On 11 December, the Commission made a new prototype version of EPREL available in the ACCEPTANCE environment. This is the last version before “Production” and it is the version that suppliers will have on 14 December 2018. The European Commission apologises for the inconvenience but thinks that it is necessary to give suppliers some days (!) to adapt their systems, if necessary, before Production.

The Commission service is developing explanatory documents to support Member States in the transposition of Directive 2018/844/EU amending the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU into national law. These drafts reflect comments submitted by Member States to the Commission. It is not yet known when these would be published.

On a monthly basis, the Eurovent Team compiles a global overview of the latest developments concerning new standardisation activities and technical regulations of relevance for the HVACR industry. Our Notifications allow members to be prepared for developments that can have an impact on them and their products.

The second Ad-Hoc Working Group (AHWG2) meeting has resulted in a Technical Background Report with third draft criteria proposals on 29 November 2018. Comments can be made until 11 January 2019.

Publication of all three revised directives in the Official Journal is scheduled on 21 December. The 2030 targets set out in the revised Energy Efficiency Directive are 32,5%. The revised Renewable Energy Sources Directive has a binding collective target of 32% of energy that shall come from renewable energy sources.

On 29 November, DG Energy provided an update on the state of play. The Commission aims to make the data that suppliers upload in the database accessible to market surveillance authorities and the public as of April 2019 rather than 1 January 2019. 

The European Commission has communicated an updated list of European Assessment Documents that can be used to show conformity with the Construction Products Regulation.

Nine days after the publication of draft of the Energy Labelling requirements for refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function, the Ecodesign requirements have been published for the European ‘4-week feedback mechanism’ and 60 days feedback for WTO. 

The F-Gas industry roundtable, organised by EPEE, brings together at regular intervals stakeholders to discuss progress in implementing the F-gas Regulation. In addition to a report on communication activities the issue of illegal imports of refrigerants was addressed. About 60 stakeholders attended the roundtable.

The Ozone Regulation is transposing the obligations of the Montreal Protocol at European level regarding ozone depleting substances. It is responsible for reducing the use substances such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) like R22. R410a was a common alternative for R22 because it had no impact on ozone. Due to its high Global Warming Potential of 2088, alternatives are being developed for R410a.