BRUSSELS: European Union (EU) member states will this week debate the impact of the bloc’s controversial methane emissions rules for importers on the region’s energy security.
Representatives of national governments will discuss the regulation when they meet in Brussels today, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.
Disagreements over the regulation, which targets emissions of the potent greenhouse gas within the EU and imposes new requirements on fossil fuel importers, have intensified after the United States, Qatar and other gas-producing nations urged the bloc to revise the rules, warning that they could jeopardise energy shipments.
Last month, member states including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Sweden called on the European Commission to urgently consider options to ease barriers to oil and gas imports, including a three-year delay to the methane requirements.
On Monday, the Irish presidency told Bloomberg that after last month’s ministerial meeting it had arranged for a follow-up discussion on the feedback on the regulation from member states and ahead of the upcoming recommendations from the European Commission.
The debate comes as the EU seeks to bring down stubbornly high energy costs and diversify supplies amid the conflict in the Middle East and efforts to end reliance on Russian energy.
It also underscores the challenges the bloc faces in extending stricter environmental standards to imports from third countries.
Ireland, which holds the EU rotating presidency through the end of this year, asked member states to consider what guidance they would give the European Commission “to address the concerns related to the implementation of the Methane Regulation”, according to the document.
Beginning in 2027, fossil fuel imports into the EU will have to comply with monitoring, reporting and verification requirements aimed at reducing methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that traps about 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere.
By 2030, imports exceeding a methane-intensity threshold will face penalties.
Under the current framework, companies could be fined as much as 20% of their annual turnover.
The United States, which has become Europe’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, has warned that its supplies will head elsewhere if the bloc refuses to ease the regulation.
The commission declined to revise the regulation at a ministerial meeting last month, offering non-binding recommendations that would limit fines on companies that are unable to comply.
For the industry, the guidelines pledged by the EU are not enough. Companies from the chemicals, oil and gas, and energy trading sectors have over the past few months called for delaying the requirements, warning that importers risk being pushed into non-compliance. — Bloomberg
