The EU Methane Regulation is intended to strengthen the continent’s energy security. However, industry lobbying and inadequate implementation are jeopardizing this important tool in the fight against gas waste.
Europe’s high reliance on imported fossil fuels leaves it dangerously exposed, driving up bills for households, creating uncertainty for businesses and undermining the bloc’s energy security. The war in Iran and the escalating tensions in the wider region are the latest reminder of this.
Yet, one of the fastest and cheapest solutions to Europe’s energy vulnerabilities is hiding in plain sight: cutting methane, the fossil fuel industry’s invisible waste. For too long, methane emissions from the energy sector have been underreported and underestimated.
The EU Methane Regulation (EUMR) targets the methane released, through leaks or deliberately vented and flared along the fossil fuel supply chain. Strict Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) obligations require fossil fuel operators to disclose their methane footprint with independently verified data. Rules also extend to imports: suppliers must meet equivalent measurement and transparency standards, and from 2030 comply with methane intensity limits. In practice, this means less wasted gas and fewer imports.
But while the Regulation aims to close emission sources, the fossil gas industry on both sides of the Atlantic has been trying to poke holes in it, attacking the very foundations of its transparency system: MRV obligations.
US industry lobbying on EU energy policy has escalated with the Trump administration rolling back US climate rules. Attacks have found resonance among Europe’s oil and gas industries, driven by the EU’s deregulation agenda and the EU-US Trade Deal negotiations.
Backed by the US administration, lobby efforts culminated in a U.S. Government document seeking exemptions for their fracked gas and oil from the EUMR. This would weaken the Regulation’s impact, as members of the US Congress warned in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen.
Alongside these pressures, fossil gas companies are falling behind on implementation, delivering a de facto twofold attack on the Regulation. By November 5th 2025, EU operators were obliged to submit MRV reports, yet much of the data is missing or of poor quality.
Since the Regulation was adopted almost two years ago, operators drilling for oil and gas, mining coal, or operating pipelines and LNG terminals across the EU have known how to measure and report methane emissions. Therefore, slow progress on MRV reflects a lack of engagement by companies.
An assessment of reports filed in Germany shows that while some companies demonstrate compliance is feasible, around 30 percent of operators failed to submit any report. Many of the reports that were submitted contained serious methodological flaws, even though desk research and basic emissions calculations would have sufficed for this first reporting period.
Compliance in the EU is essential for the Regulation to function on imports. Alarmingly, major operators responsible for critical infrastructure, such as ExxonMobil as well as the grid operators Gasunie and Open Grid Europe, submitted no or wholly insufficient reports. From 2027, importers must ensure their suppliers meet MRV standards, effectively passing the obligation to exporters.
By then, the pool of gas able to meet the highest global standards for methane reporting is expected to be roughly twice the EU’s gas demand, giving the EU room to exclude the dirtiest suppliers without tightening markets. This matters for a bloc that is now locking in risky new dependencies, with U.S. LNG projected to supply 80% of LNG imports by 2030.
Properly enforced, the Regulation would strengthen Europe’s energy security, competitiveness and affordability. It would finally give the EU a clear, harmonised view of emissions and gas flows across the supply chain – a prerequisite for managing the decline and phase-out of oil and gas use in the EU.
Turning this potential into reality requires coordination. Member States must hold operators accountable through effective enforcement with strong penalties – still absent in most of the EU countries – and fully resourced competent authorities, some of which remain unappointed. The European Commission must publish the Methane Transparency Database, originally expected by February 5 but now delayed, further weakening the Regulation’s effectiveness.
Fully implemented, EU methane rules can act as an energy security shield. But a shield with holes is ineffective, and Methane Rules alone can only buy time, not protect the system permanently. The long-term safeguard for Europe’s energy security lies in shifting to renewable energy.
The article “EU methane rules: An energy security shield under threat” was first published at Table Media. Read it here.