Information on the lobbying regarding the EU Methane Regulation
Dear Secretariat-General,
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 President of the European Commission and/or members of staff of the Secretariat-General between 1 January 2025 and 16 June 2026 with third parties (i.e. stakeholders that are not part of the EU institutions, such as companies, business associations, think tanks, research institutes, consultancies, and related actors) in which the EU Methane Regulation was discussed, including, but not limited to, the following meetings:
- BDEW with a member of the Secretariat-General on 3 March 2026.
- Eurogas with a member of the Secretariat-General on 22 September 2025.
2. Any other input received regarding the EU Methane Regulation between 1 October 2025 and 16 June 2026 from 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 DG COMP (including its Commissioner and his cabinet) has 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
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 17/06/2026 and registered on 17/06/2026 under the case number
2026/3108.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 08/07/2026. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mr Claes,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 17/06/2026 under case number EASE 2026/3108.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 08/07/2026 as in order to retrieve the
documents requested, large files have to be examined.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 30/07/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.D2 Secretariat
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Ms Claes,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 17/06/2026 under case number EASE 2026/3262.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 08/07/2026.
The application concerns documents held by different Services, which must
be consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 30/07/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG ENER Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr Claes,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/3108.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG.D2 Secretariat
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Information on the lobbying regarding the EU Methane Regulation'.
Thank you for releasing the documents.
With regard to the meeting with Eurogas, I would like to request that the Commission reconsiders the redaction of the names of the Eurogas board members that attended the meeting.
The meeting request indicates that eight Eurogas board members were present. However, five of those attendees have been redacted from the email. I am therefore requesting the release of all the names of the Eurogas companies that participated in this meeting.
The disclosure of the names of companies does not undermine the protection of "privacy and the integrity of the individual" within the meaning of Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Moreover, the Commission has already decided, in the released version of this document, to disclose the names of three of the board members that attended the meeting. This demonstrates that there is no valid basis for withholding the names of the remaining five names.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/informa...
Yours faithfully,
Kim Claes
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2026/3108, sent on 05/08/2026 and registered on 05/08/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 26/08/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission