---
title: EU Council Agrees Position on EU Methane Regulation Delays
description: The EU Council has announced that it had agreed its negotiating position on the proposed targeted amendments to the EU Methane Regulation.
image: https://www.regtrail.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images%20Nov%202%20-%206-1.png
---
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# EU Council Agrees Position on EU Methane Regulation Delays
RegTrail | 06 November, 2026
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This week the EU Council announced that it had agreed its negotiating position on the proposed targeted amendments to the EU Methane Regulation (click [here](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/11/06/methane-regulation-council-agrees-to-postpone-monitoring-rules-for-one-year/)).
Following on from the EU Parliament’s announcement in October (click [here](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20261021IPR48321/methane-rules-parliament-backs-longer-delay-for-energy-importers-and-producers)), the EU Council has now published its negotiating position on the EU Commission’s proposal to postpone certain obligations under the EUMR. The EU Parliament had voted for a three-year delay to many of the reporting measures, and opted to extend the scope of the EU Commission’s proposal to EU oil and gas operators’ own monitoring and reporting obligations. The EU Council’s mandate, agreed by its *Committee of Permanent Representatives* (Coreper) on 6 November, may be found [here](https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15503-2026-INIT/en/pdf) and highlights where it departs from the EU Commission’s proposal and where it changes existing EUMR provisions the Commission had left unchanged. Like the EU Parliament, the EU Council also cites the disruption to energy markets from the conflict in the Middle East and security of supply concerns.
Most significantly, the EU Council has retained the EU Commission’s one-year postponement rather than the three years voted for by the EU Parliament. The annual demonstration under Article 28(1) (producer-level MRV equivalence) and the reporting under Article 28(2) (all reasonable efforts for MRV for pre-4 August 2024 contracts) would therefore be due by 31 May 2029, covering 2028 supply, rather than 31 May 2031 under the EU Parliament’s text. Reporting under Article 29(1) (methane-intensity reporting) by importers and EU producers would move to 5 August 2029, versus the Parliament’s 5 August 2031. All three institutions agree on August 2031 for Article 29(2) (compliance with maximum methane-intensity values). Like the EU Parliament, however, the EU Council has gone beyond the Commission’s proposal by also postponing Article 12(3) (source-level emissions reporting complemented by site-level measurements for EU operators), albeit by only one year, to 5 February 2028 for operated assets and 5 August 2029 for non-operated assets. The EU Council did not adopt the EU Parliament’s provision accepting continuous site-level monitoring data.
The EU Council has also introduced a conditional postponement mechanism not included in either the EU Commission or Parliament’s texts. Under a new Article 36(2a), the EU Commission would need to assess by 30 September 2027 (and by 30 June 2028 after a negative outcome) whether the elements needed to implement Article 28 reporting are in place. These include two new implementing acts under Article 32(3) (on equivalent third-party verification and on transferring methane data from producers to importers) with both being due by 30 June 2027. The Article 28(6) implementing act on third-country equivalence would also face the same deadline, and there must also be enough independent verifiers available. If any condition is unmet, the EU Commission would need to adopt a delegated act postponing Articles 12(3), 28(1), 28(2), 29(1) and 29(2) by a further year. This effectively means that two consecutive postponements could match the EU Parliament’s three-year delay if crucial elements required to enable the rules were deemed not to be sufficiently in place.
A new Article 36(2b) also echoes the EU Parliament’s call for the EU Commission to propose changes if implementation or security-of-supply problems persist. It did not, however, adopt the EU Parliament’s Article 29a sanctions carve-out, but it does propose an almost-immediate entry into force as put forward by the EU Parliament (i.e. the day after publication rather than 20 days).
The EU Council will now look to reach a final agreement with the EU Parliament. With the import-related monitoring rules due to apply on 1 January 2027, the Irish presidency of the EU Council is seeking an early agreement with the Parliament to ensure that the postponement takes effect by year-end.
## Additional Resources
#### [ EMIR 3: New Clearing Thresholds Published in the EU Official Journal On 21 October 2026 the EMIR Delegated Regulation dealing with clearing thresholds under EMIR 3 was published in the Official Journal of the EU. Read the blog](https://www.regtrail.com/resources/emir-3-new-clearing-thresholds-published-in-the-eu-official-journal)
#### [ ARERA Publishes Final Rules for Italian Gas Market Liquidity Service The Italian energy market regulator, ARERA, has published a resolution defining various implementation measures relating to the so-called liquidity service for the Italian gas market. Read the blog](https://www.regtrail.com/resources/arera-publishes-final-rules-for-italian-gas-market-liquidity-service)
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