The second interinstitutional meeting (trilogue) on the regulation to reduce methane emissions (see EUROPE 1285/12) was held on Tuesday 10 October and, as a source close to the dossier summed up, it “was not conclusive”. And for good reason: the lack of a mandate from the EU Council Presidency has been a major obstacle.
However, a number of points were addressed. On the technical side, progress has been made on Articles 6 and 12, which deal with the comparative assessment of methane emissions and monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms. However, deadlines remain a point of contention, although the European Parliament has already put forward suggestions for a compromise. The lack of a mandate from the EU Council has prevented any resolution on this point.
According to one European official, the atmosphere was nonetheless positive and constructive. All the institutions seem determined to find a solution.
This perception is supported by a parliamentary source, who stresses the importance of adopting this legislation before the Conference of the Parties on climate change, which will be held in early December: “It is good that there is a common interest in finalising this legislation before COP28 and that such an agreement is significant”. This source also notes that this is the first time that the EU Council appears ready to take action on imports.
However, the European Parliament considers that the MRV mechanisms for imports are not sufficient. To address Member States’ concerns about security of supply, Parliament is open to compromise proposals. However, no Member State is supporting measures for the petrochemicals sector.
In addition, the Commission has been asked to draw up a proposal for the detection and repair of leaks, taking into account the specific characteristics of each party.
As a reminder, on 9 May 2023, the European Parliament had adopted its position (see EUROPE 13178/7) proposing, among other things, that the monitoring and reporting requirements be tightened up; it also shortened the deadlines proposed by the Commission. It introduced as well new practices, which should be followed whenever there are significant differences between emissions quantified using source-level methods and those measured at site level.
The text tabled by the co-rapporteurs, Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, German) and Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, French), also stipulates that, by 31 December 2025, the Commission must propose a binding EU-wide methane emissions reduction target for 2030, covering all relevant emitting sectors.
On 15 December 2022, the EU Council had presented its general approach, aimed in particular at relaxing the deadlines for detecting methane leaks and the conditions relating to the obligation to repair these leaks (see EUROPE 13079/7).
The next trilogue is scheduled for 14 November and is expected to be the last. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)