There is no end in sight for the drawn out legal wrangling that has divided car manufacturers since the European Union’s (EU) Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) Directive formally began earlier this year.
In late August the top administrative court in France, the Conseil de’Etat, ordered the French Government to lift its suspension on the registration of four models of Mercedes Benz vehicles using the banned refrigerant R134a.
The court ruled the vehicles, which included Mercedes A-class, B-class, CLA and SL models, were not a serious threat to the environment and that registration should resume within 48 hours.
The court will make a final ruling in a year’s time while further studies are undertaken to determine if the suspension should be permanent.
All it means is another 12 months of legal wrangling, the result of a ban by the French Transport Ministry on sales of Mercedes-Benz cars that do not use HFO-1234yf, a more environmentally friendly air conditioning refrigerant mandated by the European Commission (EU).
Since the suspension was introduced by the French Government in June, Daimler said it has hit more than 5,000 sales.
The French Government took action to try to force Daimler to comply with the MAC Directive and use the more environmentally friendly HFO-1234yf in its air conditioning systems.
Daimler has refused claiming its HFO-1234yf safety tests raised flammability questions and its use is not safe.
Toyota has also withdrawn the product from some Prius and Lexus models.
The European Commission has demanded the Court justify its decision to let Mercedes continue to use a banned coolant, adding that it will consider launching an infringement procedure against Germany later this month, action that could lead to daily fines.
While Germany is backing Daimler, the rest of Europe is demanding action.
British Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies called on the Commission to “declare war”by launching infringement proceedings not only against Germany but against every EU country that allows the sale of new Daimler models that are not in conformity with the law.
He said it’s time for the Commission to stop stalling and to enforce the directive.
“Car manufacturers have known of the new requirements for more than 10 years, and other have had no problems in using the new refrigerant,” Davies said.
Italian MEP Andrea Zanoni said its about ensuring respect for the rule of law.
“There cannot be one rule for Germany and another for the rest of EU member states,” he said.
“In order to sell their cars in the EU, the global automotive industry must comply with the rule of law and move over to an alternative that must have a global-warming value of less than 150.”
In the wake of the court ruling the president of DuPont Chemicals and Fluoroproducts,
Thierry F.J. Vanlancker issued a statement stating that the lifting of the ban on sales of Mercedes cars in France “does not change anything”.
DuPont jointly developed HFO-1234yf with Honeywell and safety tests undertaken by SAE International found the risk of fire is only three chances in a trillion.
Vanlancker said the ruling does not change the fact that the MAC Directive remains in place.
He welcomed a proposal from the European Commission to conduct an independent review of all testing conducted to date, “to help bring clarity to a debate that has continued
for far too long.”
“We believe the Commission will continue working to ensure all automotive manufacturers comply with the Directive.”