The European Commission will offer "flexibilities", but will not amend or reopen the bloc's methane emissions regulation, although it will issue non-binding recommendations, it said.
"We're not planning to reopen or amend the methane regulation. This would bring more uncertainty at this stage," commission energy spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said. The regulation clearly states that implementation shall not endanger EU security of supply, she added. "This is obviously extremely important right now," Itkonen added.
Commission officials are working on a recommendation to EU member states to ensure a simple system to demonstrate compliance, and a separate recommendation to ensure uniform and co-ordinated implementation of penalties that does not endanger energy security.
"Non-binding recommendations are a helpful signal, but on their own they will not resolve the methane regulation's underlying design flaws, which are creating barriers for EU importers," Eurogas secretary general Andreas Guth told Argus. Consistent implementations across all 27 EU member states is not guaranteed and takes time, he added.
EU refiners and fossil fuel importers last month warned that without changes to the regulation the EU would risk up to 43pc, or 114bn m³, of the bloc's 2024 gas imports and 87pc of crude oil imports, or 9.8mn b/d, based on 2024 volumes, being non-compliant in 2027–29.
EU officials are in talks with refiners and importers, but declined to comment on industry projections that the methane regulation could lead to supply risk in 2027–29.
"We fully support reducing methane emissions," IOGP Europe managing director Francois-Regis Mouton told Argus, adding that non-binding recommendations and guidance are not enough for legal certainty. Mouton called for the methane regulation to be paused while the commission proposes changes to simplify the regulation. Industry is expected to urge EU energy ministers to take action next week.
