Policy Updates

<p>The European Commission is working on an omnibus amendment to the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulations published in 2019. The Draft Act amending several pieces of legislation in this field (only to correct minor technical issues) is open for feedback for 4 weeks. Feedback can be provided until 03 November 2020.</p>

<p>In order to prepare for Brexit, the UK government is inviting manufacturers to acquaint themselves with the campaign ‘Keep Business Moving’. It's dedicated website provides information on the actions EU businesses can take to continue trading smoothly with the UK at the end of the year.</p>

<p>The European Consultations start with a ‘Roadmap/Inception Impact Assessment’ followed by a ‘Public consultation’. The Roadmap looks for general comments of the interested persons and stakeholders. The Consultation is the second phase and consists of detailed questionnaires. The industry benefits from responding to these Consultations.</p>

<p>On behalf of the European Commission (DG CLIMA), Öko-Recherche is working on a series of analysis evaluating the implementation of the F-Gas Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 since 2015. This includes, among others, monitoring of the refrigerant prices. The Q2/2020 report has been recently shared with Eurovent.</p>

<p>The Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) has assessed the 14 available national/regional Long-Term Renovation Strategies (LTRS), The analysis by BPIE concludes that many Member States still do not seem to prioritise action in the building industry.</p>

<p>New version of EPREL (1.32.0) has been released on 29 September in the ACCEPTANCE environment. It succeeds two additional updates since the previously announced update on 21 August 2020. The latest version allows for testing and scheduling of necessary adaptations. In the PRODUCTION environment the version of 7 July is still applicable.</p>

<p>From 29 June to 07 September 2020, the Commission asked for feedback on its inception impact assessment relating to the F-Gas Regulation. On 15 September 2020, this was followed by a public consultation supported by a questionnaire. This consultation runs until 29 December 2020.</p>

<p>The Commission has started a consultation to prepare the revision of the Ecodesign Framework Directive 2009/125/EC. The revision is announced under the sustainable products initiative and is twofold; including elements of the Circular Economy Action Plan to make products sustainable and an extension of the scope beyond energy-related products. The initial input to the roadmap is awaited by 7 November. Further consultation with a detailed questionnaire should be available in October. The objective is to have Commission draft of the revised Ecodesign Directive available at the end of 2021, in view of adoption in 2022 and most likely implementation in 2024 or 2025.</p>

<p>New version of EPREL (1.30.0) has been released in the ACCEPTANCE environment. The latest update includes fixes to minor issues signalled by suppliers when manually uploading their product models in the database or using system-to-system communication. It also adds some new functionalities and cosmetic changes. The PRODUCTION environment has not yet been changed.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>The minutes of the first stakeholder online meeting on the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2020-2024 held on 10 July have been published on the project website together with ICT Impact Study in August. At the request of the Commission DG JUST, the project website also announces very detailed questionnaires regarding green transition.</p>

<p>The Commission has initiated a revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive so that it may support the objectives of the European Green Deal and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Feedback can be provided until 21 September 2020.</p>