Environmental Group: German Economy Ministry Seeks to Weaken EU Methane Regulation
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) claims Germany's Economy Ministry is secretly preparing a three-year delay to key provisions of the EU's methane regulation, contrary to the government's official stance.
The environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has accused Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of attempting to undermine the European Union's methane regulation. According to internal ministry documents obtained by DUH, the ministry has been working for months to postpone key obligations of the regulation by three years, deviating from the government's official position.
DUH alleges that the Economy Ministry has solicited arguments from the industry and adopted the companies' maximum demands, which contradicts the EU's climate protection objectives. The organization is calling on Economy Minister Katherina Reiche to abandon her obstructionist stance on the regulation's implementation. "Internal ministry documents again show that Katherina Reiche's ministry is working in favor of the oil and gas corporations' interests, at the expense of the climate," said DUH's federal director, Sascha Müller-Kraenner.
According to the ministry's documents, it is prepared to violate EU agreements to protect companies that fail to comply with the rules, should the import rules not be postponed. To this end, the ministry is requesting approval from the Environment Ministry for a general administrative regulation that would exempt companies from liability. DUH views this as an attempt to circumvent EU legislation.
The EU Commission proposed a one-year postponement of the import rules in the methane regulation in mid-October, but the proposal still requires approval from the EU Parliament and member states. DUH urges Chancellor Friedrich Merz to bring clarity to Germany's internal policies and ensure that Germany speaks with one voice in Brussels to prevent the methane regulation from being weakened.