Contacts on EU Methane Regulation
Dear European External Action Service,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as laid out in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting access to all documents related to the requests below, in whichever form they exist (e.g. flash reports, emails, papers, memos, talking points, position papers, text messages, or any other format).
1. Access to all documents related to meetings held by the European External Action Service, in particular the Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America, between 1 January 2025 and 16 June 2026 with non-state third parties (i.e. stakeholders that are not part of the EU institutions or governments, such as companies, business associations, think tanks, research institutes, consultancies, and related actors) in which the EU Methane Regulation was discussed.
2. Any other input received regarding the EU Methane Regulation received between 1 January 2025 and 16 June 2026 from non-state third parties including, but not limited to, the following:
- American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU)
- American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium (AmCham Belgium)
- US Chamber of Commerce
- ExxonMobil
- ConocoPhilips
- Eurogas
- International Association of Oil & Gas Producers Europe (IOGP)
- QatarEnergy
- TotalEnergies
- Venture Global
- Excelerate Energy
- Cheniere Energy
- BDEW
- MiQ
- FuelsEurope
- Gas Infrastructure Europe
- Vitol
- Koch, Inc.
- Shell Companies
- Wood MacKenzie
- Other think tanks and research institutes
3. Any documents, including emails, notes, text messages, and other types of documents, which include references to the March 2026 Wood MacKenzie report “EU Methane Emissions Regulation – Analysis of Market Impacts”, and other research related to the EU Methane Regulation received since 1 September 2025.
This request is clearly in the public interest given the importance of the EU Methane Regulation for combating methane emissions, which are the second largest contributor to climate change, as also acknowledged by the European Commission itself. It is also in the public interest to provide transparency about any input received from, and interactions with, corporate actors during democratic EU decision-making processes. I therefore kindly request to apply the exceptions listed in Regulation 1049/2001, Article 4(1)(a), first and third indent, only when strictly necessary and only for those documents and those sections within these documents which strictly fall within the scope of this exception.
I kindly ask you to make the documents public on a rolling basis as they become available.
Thank you for your time and efforts.
Yours sincerely,
Kim Claes
Friends of the Earth Europe
Mundo Matonge building
Rue d-Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Dear Mr Claes,
We refer to your request for access to documents registered under
reference number 2026/130.
The description given in your application is excessively broad and does
not enable us to efficiently search for documents that could be in your
interest.
We wish to clarify that requests for access to documents under Regulation
1049/2001 shall be targeted to specific documents that can be clearly
identified. Requests should also be limited in their scope and
proportionate. Each document should be assessed individually with a view
of establishing whether full or partial access can be granted in line with
the provisions of Regulation 1049/2001. Since the individual assessment
and possible redaction of the identified documents would entail an
excessive workload for the institution, we are contacting you as provided
for in Article 6 of the Regulation to propose a fair solution aimed at
balancing your interest in receiving a reply within the time limits of the
Regulation and the institution’s objective of good administration and
efficient use of resources.
The EEAS would need a clear limitation of the topic instead of a protocol
to carry out a search. A search relating to EU Methane Regulation would
result in a very high number of documents.
Therefore, in accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents, we would like to ask you to limit
the request to a more specific topic or any particular event or meeting,
for instance, so that the EEAS can deal with it in a reasonable amount of
time and to reply to your request by the statutory deadlines of the
Regulation.
We look forward to your feedback. Please note that the statutory deadline
for replying to your application will start running from the moment the
exact scope of your request is clarified and considered acceptable by the
institution in terms of administrative burden. From that moment, in
accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15 working
days. Please note that the calculation of the deadline takes into account
the public holidays followed by the EU institutions and not those of
individual countries.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
Dear Mr Claes,
We failed to receive the clarification from your side as requested in the
email below sent to you on 19 June 2026.
Please note that your request is closed.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
From: EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS <[EEAS request email]>
Sent: 19 June 2026 11:09
To: Kim Claes <[FOI #17247 email]>
Subject: Clarification request - access to documents request - Contacts on
EU Methane Regulation
Dear Mr Claes,
We refer to your request for access to documents registered under
reference number 2026/130.
The description given in your application is excessively broad and does
not enable us to efficiently search for documents that could be in your
interest.
We wish to clarify that requests for access to documents under Regulation
1049/2001 shall be targeted to specific documents that can be clearly
identified. Requests should also be limited in their scope and
proportionate. Each document should be assessed individually with a view
of establishing whether full or partial access can be granted in line with
the provisions of Regulation 1049/2001. Since the individual assessment
and possible redaction of the identified documents would entail an
excessive workload for the institution, we are contacting you as provided
for in Article 6 of the Regulation to propose a fair solution aimed at
balancing your interest in receiving a reply within the time limits of the
Regulation and the institution’s objective of good administration and
efficient use of resources.
The EEAS would need a clear limitation of the topic instead of a protocol
to carry out a search. A search relating to EU Methane Regulation would
result in a very high number of documents.
Therefore, in accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents, we would like to ask you to limit
the request to a more specific topic or any particular event or meeting,
for instance, so that the EEAS can deal with it in a reasonable amount of
time and to reply to your request by the statutory deadlines of the
Regulation.
We look forward to your feedback. Please note that the statutory deadline
for replying to your application will start running from the moment the
exact scope of your request is clarified and considered acceptable by the
institution in terms of administrative burden. From that moment, in
accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15 working
days. Please note that the calculation of the deadline takes into account
the public holidays followed by the EU institutions and not those of
individual countries.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[2][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
Dear European External Action Service,
Thank you for your replies and apologies for not responding sooner.
I understand your concern about the scope of the request. I have taken note of your suggestions for a fair solution and would like to propose to narrow down my request by only looking at the following two aspects:
1. Any input received regarding the implementation of, or possible changes to be made to, the EU Methane Regulation received between 1 January 2025 and 16 June 2026 from the following non-state third parties:
- American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU)
- American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium (AmCham Belgium)
- US Chamber of Commerce
- ExxonMobil
- ConocoPhilips
- International Association of Oil & Gas Producers Europe (IOGP)
- QatarEnergy
- TotalEnergies
- Venture Global
- Excelerate Energy
- Cheniere Energy
- Eurogas
- Gas Infrastructure Europe
- Vitol
- Koch, Inc.
- Shell Companies
- Wood MacKenzie
2. Any documents, including emails, notes, text messages, and other types of documents, which include references to the March 2026 Wood MacKenzie report “EU Methane Emissions Regulation – Analysis of Market Impacts” received since 1 September 2025.
By rephrasing my request as above, I significantly reduced its scope. I removed the first of my three initial requests and significantly narrowed down the second request by only asking for documents received from a number of specific actors and specifically related to the implementation or potential changes to the EU Methane Regulation. I also further specified my third request.
I hope this will enable you to reopen the case and handle it within the specified time limits.
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Kim Claes
Yours sincerely,
Kim Claes
Dear Mr Claes,
Your application is currently being handled.
However, we are not in a position to complete the handling of your
application within the time limit of 15 working days.
We therefore, exceptionally, need to extend the deadline for reply by an
additional 15 working days.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
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