Input Stories

The European Union will recommend flexibility in the enforcement of methane emissions rules set to take effect next year.

What’s going on: “Ditte Juul Jørgensen, director-general for energy at the European Commission, said Brussels would soon recommend ‘flexibilities’ to stringent new requirements on fossil fuel importers to the bloc, as Europe continues to grapple with high energy prices” (Financial Times, subscription).

• The conflict in Iran and the regime’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil passes—has made it more difficult to shore up energy supplies, industry energy experts and European leaders say.
• The emissions rule from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, “will require that imports to the bloc are aligned with European emissions standards starting in January next year, or that they align with a voluntary industry standard” (POLITICO Pro, subscription).

Why it’s problematic: Energy companies have said methane emissions rules will be nearly impossible to follow “due to tough penalties and monitoring requirements.”

• Implementing the regulations given the strait closure will risk supply shortages, they say.

The EU response: EU officials said last week that “the Commission would … recommend that monitoring requirements be interpreted flexibly.”

• Jørgensen said at a Thursday conference that energy companies won’t be expected to trace emissions “‘to the well, to the cargo, to the molecule,’ removing a significant burden for producers and importers.”