The European Commission has proposed delaying by one year some requirements on importers under the EU Methane Regulation, citing high energy prices and pressure on gas and oil supplies in Europe, the organisation said.
The Commission said the change would postpone certain rules that apply to importers of natural gas, oil and coal, including obligations on monitoring, reporting and verification — processes used to measure emissions, disclose results and have them checked independently.
It would also delay provisions on reporting “methane intensity” requirements for both importers and EU producers, it added.
The amendment would not change the scope of the Methane Regulation, adopted in 2024, the Commission said.
What happens next
The proposal will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption, the Commission said.
Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said the EU needed to be “flexible and pragmatic” as it heads into a winter with difficult energy prices, and that the priority was to shield citizens from price volatility and avoid additional risks to energy supplies, according to his statement.
Methane is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after carbon dioxide, the Commission noted.
