Following the green light given by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) (see EUROPE 13414/22), on Monday 27 May the EU Council adopted the regulation on the monitoring and reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector, which had been the subject of an interinstitutional agreement on 16 November 2023 (see EUROPE 13293/5).
All the Member States voted in favour of the final text, with the exception of Hungary, which maintains that the regulation could “jeopardise the proper functioning of the gas, oil and coal sectors”, according to a diplomatic source contacted by Agence Europe.
This regulation introduces mitigation measures such as the detection and repair of methane leaks and restrictions on degassing and flaring, as well as global monitoring tools to promote transparency of methane emissions from oil, gas and coal imports into the EU.
The regulation will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The European Commission, for its part, will carry out a review of the application of the regulation in 2028, including the achievement of the emission reduction level. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)