A dispute between Germany and the European Commission over the carmaker Daimler’s use of a particular air-conditioning coolant has escalated into a test of the single market, with France banning the registration of new Mercedes cars.

This week Antonio Tajani, the European commissioner for industry, appeared to side with France, saying that such a ban appeared justified.

That opens the way for other countries to follow suit, banning the marketing of new Mercedes A-Class, B-Class and SL cars.

Those models are still being made with the air-conditioning coolant R134a, which has been banned in the European Union since January because it was judged to contribute to global warming. Daimler has refused to comply with the ban, saying that the approved alternative, HFO-1234yf, which other carmakers are now using, may be climate-friendly but is not safe.

It says that the new coolant caught fire during vehicle crash-tests. The claim is denied by Honeywell, the firm that makes the coolant, which attributes problems to flaws in the design of the Daimler vehicles.

The Commission refused to grant Daimler an exemption from the ban on R134a. Antonio Tajani, the European commissioner for industry, told MEPs in March that producers who continued to use R134a were breaching EU law.

According to EU law, if type-approval for a car is registered in one country, it is approved for the rest of the EU. The Mercedes cars have been given type-approval in Germany. However, France has invoked article 29 of the law on type-approval, which allows it to ban vehicles approved elsewhere if they are deemed to “present a serious risk to road safety or seriously harm the environment or public health”. Such a ban is limited to six months.

Any authority taking such action is required to notify the manufacturer and the Commission, which the French did not do before starting to refuse approval of Mercedes cars built after 12 June.

Fact File

Germany has succeeded in blocking renewed discussion over controversial new car emissions limits, despite a promise to MEPs from the Lithuanian environment minister that the subject would be on the agenda of a meeting of member states’ experts yesterday (17 July). In defence of the larger, heavier cars made by many of its companies, Germany is still seeking greater flexibility in the new rules, on which a deal was reached in principle in late June. The issue was not discussed yesterday, and the expected rapid endorsement by member states has consequently been prevented. Any agreement now looks almost certain to be delayed until after the German elections in late September. At present, only Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic support Germany’s objections, and Berlin will need to convince Poland to join its side if it wants to undo the deal.

Sales of these models in France in 2012 were 2% of global sales, according to Daimler.

Member state representatives discussed the issue yesterday (17 July) at a meeting in Brussels, and France laid out its explanation.

Before that meeting, Tajani put out a statement saying: “Currently in the European market there are vehicles produced by this manufacturer that, according to the preliminary Commission analysis, are not in conformity with their type-approval.”

A spokesperson for Daimler said that it did not think the French ban met the conditions to over-ride automatic recognition, and that the decision breached internal market rules. “We have a valid type approval for all those vehicles affected,” he said.

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