Germany Faces Fines Over Automotive Air-Conditioning Spat

LONDON – The European Commission is threatening Germany with legal action unless it orders automakers to comply with European Union legislation covering air conditioning systems in vehicles.

If Berlin refuses and the case goes against it in the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Germany could end up paying massive recurring fines of thousands of euros a day until it complies.

The case follows a standoff between the commission and Germany over the safety of an air-conditioning fluid the EU body thinks will cause less climate change than currently used chemicals. The German government says it is not convinced the new formulation is safe.

Concerns initially were raised by Daimler, which makes Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles and has continued to employ non-complying air-conditioning systems.

The Brussels-based commission says Germany is breaking EU directive 2006/40/EC that requires EU member countries to gradually restrict and then ban the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases in vehicle AC systems, because these chemicals have a strong impact on global warming.

A directive means every one of the 28 member countries must comply with the objectives of the legislation but they are permitted do so in their own way.

The commission argues Germany has gone beyond what is allowed under the EU law by permitting Daimler to sell vehicles in the EU between January and June 2013 with AC systems that use too much fluorinated gas.

“Furthermore, in May 2013, the German approval authorities accepted the request from the manufacturer to…extend…old vehicle approvals for these same vehicles,” the commission says in a statement.

It has given the German government until December to reply before possibly taking court action.

The difficulties began in 2009 when the EU automotive industry joined in a global standardization agreement under the auspices of SAE International to replace the currently used R134a coolant with R1234yf for new vehicles produced after Jan. 1, 2017.

R134a has a global-warming-potential rating that ranges into the 4-figure level, well above the 150 rating limit set by the European directive, “so it’s not an option for the long term,” Eckehart Rotter, spokesman for the VDA, the German motor industry association, tells WardsAuto.

“Germany made expensive tests and studies and then (R1234yf) was found safe, so it was a complete surprise to everyone that these results were challenged by tests carried out by one auto manufacturer, Daimler, in 2012-2013,” Rotter says.

Tests carried out by the German federal motor transport authority (KBA) examining Daimler’s claims last year concluded there was “no sufficient supporting evidence of a serious risk in the use of the refrigerant that should entail the intervention of the authorities.”

However the KBA went on to warn “specific tests on refrigerant release under more extreme conditions had indicated instances of flammability and hydrogen fluoride exposure that it considered deserved further analysis.”

In view of the confusion, the commission asked the Joint Research Centre, the EU’s scientific research service, to review the KBA tests. The JRC says the KBA’s approach was justified but there was no ignition of refrigerants and very low hydrogen fluoride release despite the very high temperatures in the engine compartment.

“The products tested have to be considered safe products,” the JRC concluded.

“That is the situation now,” Rotter says. “Maybe there are more tests required. The German government has said that as long as (it doesn’t) know 100% about the safety of this coolant, (it) will not make a decision as requested by Brussels. It’s not about (global warming potential), it’s about whether it’s a safe coolant or not.”

Daimler says it has no specific statement regarding the commission’s action.

“But we will of course (supply) the German government with any information they request,” says Matthias Brock, a spokesman for Daimler’s R&D and Environmental unit.