What specific EU environmental regulations did Czech PM Babis urge to delay or soften, and why?

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis specifically urged the EU to reconsider the timing of implementing a landmark regulation tackling methane emissions in fossil fuel imports and to delay rules requiring companies to ensure compliance strategies for environmental and human rights risks across their value chains. He also called for deferring certain obligations faced by the refining sector under the EU’s carbon market and for discussions on minimum necessary refining capacity. Babis argued that 'the pace and accumulation of regulatory measures are beginning to directly affect the availability and price of energy in Europe', citing energy price spikes linked to the Iran war and warning that without regulatory relief and a framework enabling long-term gas import contracts from non-EU sources, the EU risks becoming 'a price-taker on the global gas market with no bargaining power.'

What broader EU climate goals does Babis’s proposal sit alongside—and how does his stance relate to them?

Babis’s proposal sits alongside the EU’s ambitious climate targets: lowering carbon emissions by 90% by 2040 (from 1990 levels) and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. His stance does not reject these goals outright but calls for temporary adjustments—specifically delaying or softening near-term regulatory implementation—to mitigate immediate economic pressures, particularly energy price spikes and industrial competitiveness decline. He frames the request as pragmatic risk management rather than ideological opposition, emphasizing that regulatory accumulation is already harming energy availability and pricing, and that securing stable gas supplies via long-term contracts with non-EU suppliers is essential to maintain bargaining power—implying that rigid adherence to current timelines could undermine both energy security and the long-term viability of the green transition.

Czech PM Babis Urges EU to Soften Green Rules to Ease War Impact

Apr 21, 2026

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis urged the EU to delay environmental regulations on methane and refining to mitigate energy price spikes from geopolitical tensions. He warned that strict rules risk reducing European industrial competitiveness and bargaining power in the global gas market.

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Czech PM Babis Urges EU to Soften Green Rules to Ease War Impact

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