European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to the European Parliament in Strasbourg that exporters would receive an extra year to comply with EU methane regulations as Europe faces mounting energy cost pressures on Tuesday (October 6).

"We are all feeling these higher costs; businesses are under high pressure, people struggle to pay their bills, and this could, of course, intensify as we head into the winter," von der Leyen told lawmakers.

Von der Leyen outlined several measures to address the crisis, including launching a strategic dialogue on European refineries to reduce costs and ensure adequate supplies for defense needs. She also announced plans for a new task force to bundle energy demand across member states, building on previous successful efforts to pool European buyers when Russia attempted to manipulate energy markets.

The announcement comes as the EU seeks to balance immediate economic pressures with its longer-term goals of reducing dependence on volatile foreign fossil fuel markets and strengthening energy security.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

STRASBOURG, FRANCE (OCTOBER 5, 2026) (EUROPEAN UNION - Access all)

1. EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, ADDRESSING THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

2. EU MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT LISTENING TO VON DER LEYEN

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING:

“So, we are all feeling these higher costs; businesses are under high pressure, people struggle to pay their bills, and this could, of course, intensify as we head into the winter. We need to act now to protect those most in need and to make sure we come out of this crisis stronger than we entered it.”

4. CONFERENCE ONGOING

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING:

“In the short term, we need to support member states to respond to the immediate pressure. But for the mid and long term, we need to continue to address the structural issues that leave us exposed to volatile foreign fossil fuel markets. So, we need to invest in our resilience.”

6. VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE ONGOING

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING:

“We will give flexibility to exporters for one more year on methane. This saves additional costs at the moment of crisis. And, we will launch a strategic dialogue on European refineries. The aim is to bring down costs and to ensure we have the supplies that we need; actually, also the supplies that we need for defense.”

8. VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE ONGOING

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING:

“And finally, we will launch a new task force to bundle energy demand. As I said, there's a different energy mix in every member state. Therefore, we have quite a fragmented demand side. We have done this actually before. When Russia tried to blackmail us, we brought together European buyers. We pooled the demand; we helped secure the supplies that Europe needs. So, it is a model that works. But now we have to bring it to the next level. We want to move from simple matchmaking to aggregating demand and then task a market operator to do the joint procurement for all of us.”

9. VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE ONGOING

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING:

“Today, electricity accounts for less than a quarter of our final energy consumption. Therefore, our electrification action plan sets out clear targets to double that by 2040. And, if we are managing this, just imagine that could help cut our fossil fuel imports by 260 billion euros every year. Therefore, in the coming months, we will come forward with the measures to deliver on this.”

11. VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE ONGOING

12. VON DER LEYEN EXITING THE HALL