Brussels is giving up on methane. The EC gives one year, Poland wants three

Deputy Minister of Energy Wojciech Wrochna emphasized in an interview with RMF FM that "three years is a better solution, because we are not sure whether one year is a sufficient period to cope with these challenges."

Poland's main argument for a longer postponement is security of supply and legal certainty for companies.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen today defended in the European Parliament his proposal to postpone the rules for a year to both those who want a longer period and defenders of the Green Deal who would like to implement the rules as originally planned from the beginning of next year.

"We have a very difficult winter ahead of us and we need to remove all uncertainty so as not to undermine security of supply. That's why I propose one year," he explained why the Commission agrees to postpone this element of the Green Deal.

The Commissioner pointed out that the Commission receives signals both from Member States and from European and foreign companies that have problems with preparing for the entry into force of some of the import regulations. The point is that suppliers can look for other markets where the standards are not as stringent as in the EU. As a result, there may be a shortage of gas supplies in the EU.

“We do not anticipate a postponement longer than one year,” the commissioner assured supporters of the Green Deal.

Why not longer, as Poland, among others, wants? Jørgensen argues that delaying until 2030 would mean losing the effects that the regulations are intended to bring in reducing methane emissions.

“If we postpone until 2030, we will not achieve the results we want, for example in the fight against climate change.”

Moreover, he said, a three-year postponement would be unfair to companies that have already adapted and invested in meeting the new requirements.