EU delays methane requirements for fuel importers: one year — or more?

A one-year delay with a caveat

The Council of the EU, representing the governments of member states, on 6 November backed the European Commission's proposal to postpone by one year the methane emissions reporting and verification requirements for fossil fuel importers — until January 2028. The deadlines for reporting on methane emissions intensity and compliance with limits are being moved accordingly to August 2029 and August 2031. Earlier, in October, the European Parliament voted for a three-year delay on part of the obligations, so the Council and Parliament still have to agree on a final timeline. This is reported by Anadolu.

The risk of a 'sliding mechanism'

A key feature of the Council's position is a review mechanism: by 30 September 2027, the European Commission must assess whether the necessary conditions for implementing the requirements are in place, which potentially opens the door to further delays. Lea Pilsner, director of energy policy at Environmental Defense Fund Europe, called such a scenario 'a big risk': in her words, it 'opens the door to many further delays at unclear moments' and undermines certainty for companies that have already prepared to comply with the rules. Pablo Lopez Legarreta of Clean Air Task Force called the Council's position 'a step in the right direction', but stressed: 'One year must mean one year. Europe needs a real implementation period, not a sliding mechanism of permanent postponement.'

The price of delay: emissions and lost gas

The governments cite the war in the Middle East, which disrupted gas supplies and pushed up prices, as the reason for the delay: stricter requirements, in their view, could put additional pressure on supplies. Experts disagree. According to Lopez Legarreta's estimate, 'each year of delay of the standard costs another 1–2 million tonnes of methane', and a 2023 study by Rystad Energy showed that fees for exceeding the limits could, by 2031, cut methane emissions linked to EU imports by a further 1.9 million tonnes per year. EDF economist Huong Nguyen cited a May report by the International Energy Agency: in the short term, almost 15 billion cubic metres of additional gas could enter the market, and in the long term up to 100 billion cubic metres annually through leak reduction, plus another 100 billion by ending the flaring of associated gas outside emergencies.

Costs and the EU's influence

According to research cited by Anadolu, fears of a sharp rise in supply costs are poorly supported: the Rystad assessment showed that gas worldwide ready to meet the requirements is more than three times the EU's current imports, while the consultancy Carbon Limits estimated the full cost of compliance at less than 1% of the value of the product; measurement, reporting and verification themselves, according to Lopez Legarreta's calculations, would account for 0.03–0.6% of gas production costs. A separate argument against the delay is the regulation's external influence: transparent emissions data could push exporters seeking to keep access to the EU market towards monitoring and fixing leaks. Lopez Legarreta warned that backing away from commitments adopted just two years ago 'weakens the EU's status as a climate leader.'