Flame: EUMR Implementation

EU Methane Regulation: From Compliance Problem to Compliance Solution
Panel Discussion | Flame Conference, Amsterdam | 20 May 2026

Moderated by Axel Scheuer (Energy & Climate Policy Advisory Europe), the panel featured Bertold T.L. Plugboer (Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate, Netherlands), Davide Rubini (Vitol), Georges Tijbosch (MiQ), and Sven Doruiter (Dutch Emissions Authority, NEa).

A late-afternoon plenary at Flame brought together the regulators, traders, and certification bodies building the compliance infrastructure for the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR). The message was blunt: stop debating the law and start running pilots.

The EUMR requires importers to report the methane performance of the gas they bring into Europe, a straightforward goal complicated by the fungibility of LNG. You cannot trace a molecule from a U.S. wellhead to a Dutch regasification terminal. Scheuer framed the session around one solution endorsed by the EU in Dec. 2025: certification at production level, with importers purchasing certificates to demonstrate compliance, decoupled from the commercial transaction.

Tijbosch announced two concrete developments: a new certificate registry to prevent double-counting and enable crude oil certification alongside gas, and Meta’s decision to issue RFPs for MiQ-certified gas for its data centers, the first significant demand signal from the tech sector.

Rubini was direct about what industry needs: a tradable certificate that creates a real price signal for producers to invest in methane mitigation. Penalties paid to authorities do not flow back to producers and cannot drive upstream investment. Certification can.

The Netherlands pilot, run jointly between Vitol, MiQ, and the NEa, is designed to move the debate from theory to practice: a real certified U.S. cargo, real certificates, a real Dutch regasification terminal, and a real regulatory assessment. Doruiter urged importers across all member states to engage their competent authorities and to submit May 31 compliance reports even where data is incomplete.

The session closed with a clear call: the 2028 evaluation of the regulation must not arrive with the same unresolved questions. The pilots need results now.