In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 517/2014, the placing on the Union market of at least 100 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons (‘HFCs’) per year by producers or importers is subject to quantitative limits in order to ensure their gradual reduction.

Pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 the quantitative limits – quotas — are calculated based on reference values determined by the Commission on the basis of the annual average of the quantities of HFCs the producers or importers have reported under Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 to have lawfully placed on the market from 1 January 2015 and onwards, while excluding quantities of HFCs for the uses referred to in Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 during the same period, on the basis of available data, in accordance with Annex V to that Regulation.

In accordance with Article 16(5) of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 HFC quotas are allocated to producers or importers as listed in the Annex to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/19842 which are established within the Union or to importers from third countries having mandated an only representative established within the Union as listed in the Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1984.

In light of the notification under Article 50 on the Treaty on European Union by the United Kingdom and with a view to ensuring that the reference values and quotas for producers and importers established within the United Kingdom reflect the lawful placing on the market of HFCs in the Union of 27 Member States after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, the reference values for these companies should be re-calculated for 2019 for the period following the withdrawal on 30 March 2019.

For the period from 1 January to 29 March 2019 the reference values determined in Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1984 should remain valid and applicable. For the determination of the quota for producers and importers established within the United Kingdom the reference values for the period up to and including 29 March and the period thereafter will be weighted by the number of days the United Kingdom is a Member State of the Union in 2019.

For companies established within the United Kingdom the newly re-calculated reference values as determined in this Decision are based on additional verified data submitted by these companies to the Commission and complementing the reporting already made pursuant to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 by differentiating between HFCs placed on the market within the United Kingdom and in the Union of 27 Member States. For companies that have not submitted additional data it should be assumed that all HFCs were placed on the market within the United Kingdom and no reference value should be determined.

The re-calculated reference values are established for the case that Union law ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2019.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 24 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014.