International. Germany has violated European law by accepting that the daimler company (Mercedes-Benz) continues to use the refrigerant R134a in the air conditioning system of its vehicles. This was defined by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
In a finding by FET Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi in Luxembourg, it was stated that Germany's Federal Transport Authority, the KBA, should have ensured that Daimler complied with the European MAC (Vehicle Air Conditioning Systems) directive which banned the use of R134a.
The opinion of the Advocate General is not binding, but in most cases the judges of the European Court of Justice follow it. A verdict is expected within the next few months.
The MAC Directive stipulates that air conditioning systems in motor vehicles approved after 1 January 2011 could not be filled with fluorinated gases with a GWP greater than 150. This effectively banned the use of R134a, leaving HFO R1234yf "mildly flammable" as the only production-ready refrigerant.
After conducting its own flammability tests, German automaker Daimler had refused to use the new coolant for safety reasons. In late 2015, the European Commission announced that it would send Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to implement the MAC Directive. It alleged that Germany had breached EU law by allowing Daimler to place vehicles on the EU market that were not in compliance with the MAC Directive, and failing to take corrective action.
