Macron asks EU Commission to ease fuel and methane rules amid energy costs

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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron has asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to ease EU rules on the make-up of fuel and on methane emissions in a bid to keep soaring energy prices under control.

The call comes as the conflict in the Middle East pushed oil prices to around their highest point since May, while gas prices were more than double their level before the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran in February, prompting the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The French president is facing pressure and potential social unrest at home from these high fuel costs, but has little fiscal space to reduce domestic fuel taxes. With no end in site to the Gulf conflict, Macron is now turning to the EU to help solve the problem.

He asked the European Commission to delay by one year new EU rules that will impose fines on oil and gas companies which fail to report their methane emissions.

The methane regulation is designed to reduce emissions of one of the most potent planet-warming gases which are often released during the production and transport of coal, oil and natural gas. But it has been heavily criticized by the U.S. government and fossil fuel sector, who say it will frighten off oil and gas importers and endanger Europe’s energy security.

The Commission had already recommended member countries hold off fining offenders until the end of 2029. But, to provide more legal certainty to fossil fuel importers, the French President asked Brussels to explicitly delay those rules by one year.

Macron also proposed temporarily softening EU rules on the quality of fuels, which regulate parameters such as density and vaporization limits, and to allow the use of more biofuels in diesel.

“I believe it is useful to draw your attention to several points which, if addressed and implemented at the European level, could collectively strengthen our import and production capacities in the short term,” Macron wrote in a letter sent to von der Leyen last Friday and seen by POLITICO. The letter was first reported by French media.

For months, the government has been paying fuel subsidies to most-affected sectors and, later on Tuesday, it is expected to present more measures.

As the French presidential campaign gears up, Macron on Friday gathered party leaders and presidential candidates for a crisis meeting during which he briefed them on how Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East are driving fuel prices to new highs in France.

The President also announced that France will hold a G7 meeting to address skyrocketing fuel prices and the other consequences of the Middle East crisis.

France has so far ruled out any across the board tax cuts on fuel which would result in less tax income and undermine the country’s efforts to tighten the belt.

The government has already abandoned its goal to bring the deficit down to 5 percent of GDP this year, citing the war in the Middle East and lower growth. But Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has vowed to reach that deficit target next year, thanks to a €54 billion budget squeeze.

This article has been updated.