European Union member states will debate this week the impact of the EU’s methane emissions rules targeting fossil fuel importers on the region’s energy security, Bloomberg reports.
Representatives of member state governments will discuss the so-called Regulation (EU) 2024/1787, which sets rules for accurately measuring, monitoring, reporting and reducing methane emissions in the European Union’s energy sector, when they meet in Brussels on Wednesday.
According to a document seen by Bloomberg, Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of this year, has asked member states to consider what guidance they could provide to the European Commission “to address concerns about the implementation of the Methane Regulation.”
Disagreements over the regulation, which imposes new requirements on fossil fuel importers, have intensified after the US, Qatar and other gas-producing countries urged the bloc to review the rules, warning that they could jeopardize energy shipments, according to Agerpres.
Last month, several member states, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Sweden, asked the European Commission to urgently examine options to reduce barriers to oil and gas imports, including a three-year postponement of methane emissions requirements.
The Irish presidency said that after last month’s ministerial meeting it had arranged a follow-up discussion to assess member states’ reactions to the regulation, ahead of future recommendations from the European Commission.
The debate comes as the EU seeks to lower energy prices and diversify supplies amid the Middle East conflict and efforts to end its dependence on Russian energy. The discussions on methane emissions also highlight the challenges the bloc faces in extending its environmental standards to imports from third countries.
From 2027, fossil fuel imports into the EU will have to comply with monitoring, reporting and verification requirements aimed at reducing methane emissions. By 2030, imports that exceed a certain threshold for methane emissions intensity will face sanctions. Under the current framework, companies could be fined up to 20% of their annual turnover.
The US, which has become Europe’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas, has warned that its supplies will shift to other countries if the bloc refuses to relax the rules.
At a ministerial meeting last month, the Commission refused to review the rules, offering non-binding recommendations that would limit fines for companies that fail to comply.
But for industry, the EU’s promised guidelines are not enough. Companies in the chemical, oil, gas and energy trading sectors have called in recent months for the requirements to be postponed, warning that importers risk being penalised. A key problem is the procedures for verifying compliance with the rules, with too few recognised protocols and verification bodies.