The European Parliament voted 341-225, with six abstentions, on Thursday, Oct. 22, to seek a three-year extension of methane compliance deadlines for many energy imports, setting its position before negotiations with EU member states.
The amendments cover crude oil, natural gas and coal imported under contracts concluded or renewed since Aug. 4, 2024. For supplies in scope, importers would have until May 31, 2031, to show that measures at the producer level meet EU requirements for monitoring, reporting and verification. The deadline applies to the previous calendar year's supply: the first submission would cover 2030 supplies, and the deadline would recur annually.
A separate requirement covers methane-intensity reporting by importers and EU producers. Their first reports would be due Aug. 5, 2031. The amendments therefore set one date for documenting producer-level measures and another for reporting methane intensity. Parliament's adopted text moves those deadlines three years later than the earlier dates that would apply to restricted-origin supplies.
The longer schedule would not cover fuels originating in, or shipped directly or indirectly from, countries subject to EU measures restricting or prohibiting imports of those fuels. For those supplies, importers would have until May 31, 2028, to demonstrate equivalent producer-level measures for contracts concluded or renewed on or after Aug. 4, 2024; for older contracts, they would report their efforts to secure those measures by the same date. Methane-intensity reports would remain due Aug. 5, 2028, while compliance with maximum intensity values would be due Aug. 5, 2030.
The vote sets Parliament's position for negotiations with the Council. The file was referred back to the responsible committees for those talks. The vote does not itself change current obligations; the existing timetable remains in force until any amendments take effect.
