European regulation 2037/2000 of June 29th, 2000 was published in the Official Journal of the European Community on September 29th, 2000 and took effect on October 1st.
1. Regarding CFCs: These were prohibited from the market on October 1st, 2000. Their use in servicing was prohibited on December 31st, 2000 (which does not mean that installations must be dismantled).
2. Regarding HCFCs:
The new use of HCFCs in all refrigeration and air-conditioning systems is prohibited, with two exceptions:
– Their use in fixed climate control equipment of less than 100kW cold power was prohibited on July 1st, 2002.
– Their use in reversible climate control systems and heat pumps was prohibited on January 1st, 2004.
3. Use of new HCFCs in servicing is prohibited from 1 January 2010 and their use for any purpose is prohibited from January 1st, 2015. (This means that only recycled HCFCs will be authorised between 2010 and 2015.)
4. They must be recovered from all refrigeration and climate control systems from October 1st, 2000, with a grace period for domestic cooling equipment until 31 December 2001.
5. Disposable packaging is prohibited for HCFCs except for essential uses.
6. An annual leak inspection of fixed appliances heavier than 3kg has been made obligatory but that does not change anything because the applicable French law requires the inspection of appliances heavier than 2kg.