Romania’s Draft Penalty Rules for Violations of the EU Methane Regulation

EUKI project Implementing the EU Methane Emission Regulation (I-MER) builds national capacity for effective methane mitigation across Europe’s energy sector.

Published by Ecologic Institute with the support of the project partners Centre for Transport and Energy and Environmental Defense Fund Europe, this study analyses Romania’s draft penalty rules for enforcing the EU Methane Regulation. The assessment finds that Romania has missed the EU deadline for adopting compliant penalty provisions and that the current draft, if adopted unchanged, would fall well short of EU requirements. Key enforcement powers for competent authorities are missing, several mandatory infringements are not subject to penalties, and both minimum and maximum fines are set at levels that are unlikely to be effective or dissuasive. The absence of clear criteria for penalties and of provisions to ensure adequate administrative resources further risks weakening compliance and creating competitive distortions within the EU internal market.