# European Parliament votes to push EU methane import rules to 2031, three times the delay the Commission proposed > The European Parliament voted 341 to 225 on October 22 to give oil, gas and coal importers until May 31, 2031 to prove their supply meets EU-equivalent methane monitoring, reporting and verification rules, instead of January 1, 2027 under current law and May 2029 under the Commission's proposal. Member states have not agreed their position, so the 2027 obligations stay in force until the two sides settle a text and publish it. - Label: Fact - Type: News item - Published: 2026-10-23T06:13:51+09:00 - By: Jun Zhong - Researched and drafted by: Beacon's AI newsroom - Topics: Methane and emissions, Regulation, LNG - Canonical: https://beacon.winda.ai/news/2026-10-23-eu-methane-regulation/ ## Where it stands Parliament has adopted its negotiating position, not a law [1]. EU ambassadors failed to agree a member state position on October 21, and the final deadline now has to be settled between Parliament and governments [3] [2]. Parliament used its urgent procedure and wants the amending regulation to take effect the day after publication in the Official Journal [1]. Until then, the import obligations in the 2024 regulation remain due from January 1, 2027 [2] [1]. ## What happened The EU methane regulation entered into force on August 4, 2024. It requires importers of crude, gas and coal to show that supply contracts signed or renewed since that date cover fuel subject to monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) equivalent to the EU's, starting January 1, 2027, with methane-intensity reporting due from August 5, 2028 [1] [5]. On October 14 the Commission proposed a one-year delay: import MRV equivalence would move to May 31, 2029, methane-intensity reporting to August 5, 2029, and compliance with maximum methane-intensity values for new contracts to August 5, 2031 [5]. Importers had said they might not secure enough compliant supply from January 2027 [5]. On October 22 Parliament voted 341 to 225, with 6 abstentions, for a three-year delay [1] [4]. Under its text, importers would have until May 31, 2031 to demonstrate MRV equivalence for contracts since August 4, 2024 and to report on bringing older contracts into line; producers and importers would first report methane intensity by August 5, 2031; and EU oil and gas operators would have until February 2030 for verified reports on operated assets and August 2031 for non-operated assets [1]. EUobserver reports that the operator reporting delay came from a cross-party amendment by 36 Romanian and Bulgarian MEPs, and that MEPs rejected a Patriots for Europe motion to suspend the regulation outright and an ECR push for longer delays [3]. The extension does not apply to fuel from countries under EU sanctions that restrict or ban such imports; importers must report those volumes separately, including in mixed cargoes, and the Commission would publish an indicative list of the countries concerned [1]. EUobserver reads the carve-out as aimed in practice at Russia [3]. Parliament also asks the Commission to report on implementation and supply security by July 1, 2029 [1] [4]. Parliament cited importers' warnings about strained markets and high prices tied to the Middle East conflict [1]. Reuters reports that France and the United States, Europe's largest LNG supplier, pressed for a longer delay, that lobbying by the Czech Republic and Italy intensified in recent weeks, and that the US warned in June the law could disrupt fuel deliveries, a position ExxonMobil backed [2]. **Analysis:** ## What it means For importers and their upstream suppliers, the vote widens the range of outcomes but does not remove the January 1, 2027 date. The Commission's one year and Parliament's three now bracket the negotiation, and member states have yet to state a position. A compliance team that stops contract MRV work today is betting that a text is agreed and published before December 31. That is roughly ten weeks, with an urgent procedure but no Council position yet. For EU operators, the operator reporting delay matters as much as the import delay. Verified reports on operated assets would move to February 2030 under Parliament's text, which takes pressure off measurement campaigns already scheduled for 2027. The vote does not say whether the regulation's other operator obligations, such as leak detection and repair, are touched. Operators should not read it as relief on field work until the final text says so. For exporters into Europe, including US LNG sellers, the sanctions carve-out is the part to read closely. Russian-origin fuel keeps the original schedule and must be reported separately in mixed cargoes. That makes origin tracing a live requirement even if everything else slips. Traders blending at hubs will need the records to prove what they are not shipping. Next dates: the member state position, the first Parliament-Council meeting, and publication in the Official Journal before December 31, or not. ## Sources 1. [Methane rules: Parliament backs longer delay for energy importers and producers, European Parliament](https://www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/eu-institution-news/methane-rules-parliament-backs-longer-delay-for-energy-importers-and-producers/), 2026-10-22 2. [European Parliament votes to approve three-year delay on EU methane rules, Reuters](https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/european-parliament-votes-approve-three-year-delay-eu/), 2026-10-22 3. [MEPs back three-year methane delay, triple what the EU Commission wanted, EUobserver](https://euobserver.com/244375/meps-back-three-year-methane-delay-triple-what-the-eu-commission-wanted/), 2026-10-22 4. [European Parliament backs 3-year delay to methane emission rules for energy imports, Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/europe/european-parliament-backs-3-year-delay-to-methane-emission-rules-for-energy-imports/4097142), 2026-10-22 5. [European Commission proposes delaying key EU Methane Regulation import and reporting deadlines, Linklaters](https://sustainablefutures.linklaters.com/post/102o5fh/european-commission-proposes-delaying-key-eu-methane-regulation-import-and-report), 2026-10-14 Published by Winda Beacon (https://beacon.winda.ai).