Joint Industry Reaction and Recommendations: EU Methane Regulation – DG ENER Recommendations

Read the joint industry reaction and recommendations here and the industry technical position here.

The EU Methane Regulation’s (EUMR) main import obligations take legal effect from 1 January 2027, but the framework needed to comply with them has yet to be fully defined and deployed. Furthermore, the Commission has not carried out a comprehensive assessment of either the feasibility of compliance or its potential impact for the EU. In particular, it has not evaluated how implementation would affect methane emissions reductions, competitiveness, and the security and diversification of energy supply.

This is a critical challenge for the pragmatic implementation of the Regulation, which the Commission, Member States and industry all face, and while efforts to assist Member States are welcome, they are not able to address the serious risks EU importers are facing from January 2027.

The industry is committed to further reducing methane emissions. Importers are committed to compliance and do not seek reduced penalties or weaker obligations, but the time and tools necessary to make compliance genuinely achievable for the crude oil and gas that Europe needs. Member States must also understand and acknowledge the challenges involved as well as the consequences of adapting the current European supply model within global energy markets to the constraints of available EUMR-compliant supply.

For these reasons, targeted amendments to the Regulation and a time-limited 3-year postponement of the relevant obligations under Chapter V, in particular Art. 28(1), 28(2) and 29(1), are necessary to ensure a practical and effective implementation framework. This postponement should be implemented through a binding EU-level legal measure: non-binding Recommendations or national enforcement discretion cannot provide legal certainty or harmonised application.

This is not a request to weaken the Regulation or to delay its objectives.  It is a request to ensure that when obligations are enforced, the systems to fulfil them actually exist. A postponement would provide the Commission, Member States and industry with the time needed to:

• Complete the accreditation, verification and certification frameworks[1] at the scale required, both within the EU and in exporting countries;
• Develop and deploy compliance solutions that are globally available and consistently recognised across Member States
• Conduct a rigorous assessment of the feasibility of compliance and the consequences of implementation for European energy security, competitiveness and supply diversification to prepare an earlier review of the Regulation; and
• Establish the legal certainty and harmonisation across Member States that only binding obligations can provide.

[1] Incl. accreditation, verification, certification, secondary legislation, clarification of the Recommendations, update of the DG ENER Q&A.

Download the joint industry reaction and recommendations and the industry technical position below.