A coalition of nearly 30 civil society organisations sent a letter to the European Commission calling to protect the EU Methane Regulation and avoid a de facto “stop-the-clock” mechanism through the backdoor.
The organisations raise deep concerns regarding the leaked draft Commission Recommendation on the application of Article 33 of the EU Methane Regulation, which proposes a three-year “grace period” on the enforcement of sanctions for key importer obligations.
The signatories warn that this approach risks undermining the Commission’s future work on the methane intensity standard, incentivising legal uncertainty and uneven implementation by Member States by weakening core obligations of the Regulation.
The proposal is not justified by any demonstrated security of supply risk and instead dangerously reflects pressure from the fossil fuel industry and the US administration.
The real source of legal uncertainty today is the absence of national penalty regimes in most Member States. The signatories call on the Commission to prioritise three actions:
- Clear guidance for case-by-case assessment instead of a blanket exemption.
- Exclusion of Article 27 from any suspension of sanctions.
- Prioritising implementation, not delay.