Skip to content
REPORT (COM(2021)0805 – C90467/2021 – 2021/0423(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/942

A-9-2023-0162

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee on Industry, Research and Energy · Rapporteur: Pascal Canfin, Jutta Paulus

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal for a regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector. It sets rules for measuring, quantifying, monitoring, reporting and verifying methane emissions, and for abating them through leak detection and repair and limits on venting and flaring. It adds a Union methane emission reduction target, with the Commission to propose a binding 2030 target covering all relevant emitting sectors by 31 December 2025. It extends the rules to petrochemicals and to imports of fossil gas, oil and coal, requiring importers to show that exporters meet comparable monitoring, reporting, verification, leak detection and repair, and venting and flaring rules. It requires operators to quantify source-level methane emissions within 12 months for operated assets and 24 months for non-operated assets, and to add site-level measurements within 24 and 42 months. It bans routine venting and flaring except in emergencies, malfunction or specific situations, requires flare stacks with at least 99% destruction and removal efficiency, and sets leak detection and repair survey frequencies and repair deadlines. It requires Member States to inventory inactive wells and closed and abandoned coal mines, install measurement equipment, and adopt mitigation plans.

Committee position. The committees propose to adopt Parliament's position at first reading with amendments to the Commission proposal, adding a Union methane reduction target, extending rules to petrochemicals and imports, tightening leak detection and repair, venting and flaring, and setting earlier reporting deadlines.

Key points

  1. The regulation lays down rules for accurate measurement, quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the energy sector, and for their abatement through leak detection and repair and restrictions on venting and flaring.
  2. It adds a Union methane emission reduction target: the Commission shall propose, by 31 December 2025 and based on an impact assessment, a binding 2030 Union methane emission reduction target covering all relevant emitting sectors.
  3. Member States shall collectively ensure that methane emissions from the energy sector in the Union are reduced by 2030 to a level capturing social benefits at less than their costs, and shall set national targets in their integrated national energy and climate plans.
  4. The regulation applies to oil and fossil gas upstream exploration and production, gathering and processing, transmission, distribution, underground storage and liquefied fossil gas terminals, to petrochemicals, and to operating, closed and abandoned coal mines.
  5. Operators shall quantify source-level methane emissions using at least generic emission factors within 10 months, and direct measurements within 12 months for operated assets and 24 months for non-operated assets.
  6. Operators shall add site-level measurements within 24 months for operated assets and 42 months for non-operated assets, and shall report by 31 May every year thereafter.
  7. Operators shall carry out leak detection and repair surveys at frequencies of once every two, four or five months depending on component type and detection limit, and shall repair or replace all leaking components.
  8. Venting and flaring shall only be allowed in an emergency or malfunction, and venting only where flaring is not technically feasible; routine flaring is banned and flaring requires at least 99% destruction and removal efficiency.
  9. Member States shall inventory inactive wells and permanently plugged and abandoned wells, install measurement equipment, and develop mitigation plans to remediate, reclaim and permanently plug inactive wells.
  10. Member States shall inventory closed and abandoned underground coal mines, install measurement equipment on emitting elements, and develop mitigation plans; venting and flaring from such equipment shall be prohibited from 1 January 2030.
  11. Importers of coal, oil and gas shall, from 1 January 2026, demonstrate that exporters comply with the regulation's requirements on measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification, leak detection and repair, and venting and flaring, or qualify for a derogation.
  12. The Commission shall establish a methane transparency database, and Member States shall lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, including fines and possible suspension of authorisation to place oil, gas or coal on the market.

Who is affected

  • Operators in oil and fossil gas exploration, production, gathering, processing, transmission, distribution, storage and LNG terminals must measure, report and abate methane emissions.
  • Mine operators in operating, closed and abandoned coal mines must measure methane, meet venting and flaring limits, and contribute to mitigation plans.
  • Importers of fossil gas, oil and coal must demonstrate that exporters meet comparable monitoring, reporting, verification, leak detection and repair, and venting and flaring rules.
  • Member States must appoint competent authorities, carry out inspections, inventory inactive wells and closed coal mines, and set penalties.
  • The petrochemical sector is brought into scope for monitoring and reporting, leak detection and repair, and limits to venting and flaring.

Figures and deadlines

  • Methane has a shorter average atmospheric residence time (10 to 12 years) than carbon dioxide.
  • Methane is over 80 times more significant than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and 29.8 times greater global warming potential over 100 years.
  • Ground-level ozone contributes to nearly 20 000 premature deaths every year.
  • 53% of anthropogenic methane emissions come from agriculture, 26% from waste and 19% from the energy sector.
  • The Commission indicates that 77% of total projected methane emissions over and above the baseline can be abated in 2030 at less than the sum of social and environmental benefits.
  • Globally, 143 bcm of fossil gas was flared in 2021, resulting in the direct release of 270 Mt of CO2 and nearly 8 Mt of methane (240 Mt CO2-eq).
  • The IEA estimated that nearly 210 billion cubic metres of natural gas could be made available to gas markets by eliminating non-emergency flaring and reducing methane emissions.
  • The Union is dependent on imports for 70% of its hard coal consumption, 97% of its oil consumption, and 90% of its fossil gas consumption.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 194(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.