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Eleven EU countries led by the Czech Republic and Slovakia are urging the European Commission to delay key provisions of the EU’s methane rules by at least three years, arguing that immediate enforcement could threaten Europe’s energy security at a time of geopolitical instability, according to a document seen by Euronews.
The eleven countries launched their plea as energy ministers prepare to gather in Luxembourg on 26 June while the European Commission weighs waiving penalties linked to the bloc’s methane rules for three years for oil and gas companies that breach its methane emissions law.
But the 11 member states say the Commission’s proposed recommendation not to impose penalties during a three-year “transition period” is insufficient, saying the proposal is “non-binding” and that “significant legal uncertainty” remains for importers negotiating long-term supply contracts.
“While fully supporting the objective of reducing methane emissions, we consider it necessary to introduce carefully targeted adjustments, including a postponement of EU methane rules obligations by at least three years,” reads the document.
Generated mainly by fossil fuel production and livestock digestion, methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The International Energy Agency says the gas is responsible for about 30 percent of the rise in global temperature since the Industrial Revolution.
EU member states adopted methane rules in May 2024, introducing the bloc’s first framework for measuring, reporting and verifying methane emissions in the energy sector as part of efforts to curb one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Failure to honour such requests for data incurs penalties.
Geopolitics and supply security
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has sought both to accelerate climate action and diversify energy imports.
The methane rules were designed to reduce emissions across the energy value chain, but fears grow that demanding compliance from foreign suppliers too quickly could limit available supplies and increase costs.
The 11 governments say that while they remain committed to reducing methane emissions, current market conditions make strict implementation risky. They cite ongoing disruptions in global oil and gas markets, particularly linked to instability in the Middle East, which have already tightened supply and increased uncertainty ahead of future winter demand peaks.
“In this context, it is essential that EU methane rules don’t unintentionally restrict access to diversified gas and crude oil sources,” reads the document, which also warns that import requirements under the methane law could discourage some foreign suppliers from selling to the EU if they lack advanced methane-monitoring systems.
These fears have been fuelled by pressure from the US and more recently Qatar, a key LNG supplier to the EU whose production has been severely hit by the war in Iran, according to a public letter to EU leaders sent by a group of other major energy exporters, including Algeria and Nigeria.
“The EU faces a narrow window to make necessary changes to the methane rules as importers have already begun the process of purchasing oil and natural gas that will be stored for delivery in 2027, and as of now there is no viable path to compliance with the regulation,” reads the public letter, referring to the year the rules are set to kick in.
The 11 EU capitals warn that under this scenario, the EU’s supplier base could redirect LNG and oil cargoes to less regulated markets and increase energy prices for consumers and industry.
“A coordinated, time-limited postponement of EU methane rules is essential to ensure effective and harmonised implementation while safeguarding the EU’s energy security during a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty,” reads the capitals’ plea.
“This approach preserves the environmental integrity of the Regulation, offers legal and operational clarity, and maintains stable access to diversified natural gas and crude supplies until current supply risks subside.”
Environmentalists and UN call for more action
Yet the foreign pressure does not cut in one direction. Democratic Party lawmakers in Washington have recently urged the EU to uphold its methane rules and refrain from exempting US energy operators if US domestic standards lack sufficient accuracy or enforcement.
Esther Bollendorff, fossil free program manager at the NGO Climate Action Network Europe, said the calls from the EU member states to halt the methane rules “worryingly” echo the fossil fuel industry and the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back the law, framing it as a “threat to security of supply”.
Instead, Bollendorff encouraged the EU “not to give in to pressure” and to fully implement the methane law while phasing out its dependence on fossil fuels.
“In reality, the regulation does not ban gas imports. Instead, it provides phased compliance pathways for suppliers, and compliant global gas supply already exceeds the EU’s import needs by more than three times,” Bollendorff told Euronews, dismissing previous studies stating the opposite.
“Cutting methane can deliver immediate benefits that go beyond climate, from improved public health to stronger energy security. The EU has the tools it needs to act,” she added, recalling the recent call by the UN secretary general António Guterres for world nations to take action against methane emissions at a key climate summit in London.
“We eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals. Methane pollution must be next,” Guterres said from London. “I call on producer and consumer governments alike to set a new global standard for the oil and gas sector: near-zero methane emissions across the value chain.”
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