Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has sent a government proposal on enforcing the EU Methane Regulation out for consultation from 30 September to 21 October 2026. The bill would designate the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) as the enforcement authority and set out penalties for non-compliance. The acts are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2027.
The regulation obliges operators in the oil, natural gas and coal chains to measure, report and reduce methane emissions, and it also covers importers. It has applied directly in Finland since August 2024, but the ministry notes that the Constitution requires the competent authority to be named in an act, so enforcement is only possible once the national law is adopted. In Finland the rules are expected to affect mainly gas transmission and distribution operators, LNG infrastructure operators and importers of fossil fuels.
Tukes would receive rights of inspection and to obtain information, and could impose a public warning, a cease-and-desist order or a conditional fine. Penalty payments would be imposed by the Market Court on Tukes’ proposal. Because some deadlines in the regulation have already passed and cannot be changed by national law, the bill gives operators three to nine months after entry into force to bring their obligations up to date before a penalty for negligence can apply.
The ministry also addresses a July 2026 European Commission recommendation that member states should not apply penalties for certain breaches of importers’ disclosure obligations in 2027–2029, because full application could endanger energy supply security. The recommendation is not binding and is not written into the bill, but the bill states that a penalty may not be applied in a way that endangers security of supply, and Tukes is expected to take the recommendation into account.
Separately, the proposal includes electricity market changes based on EU rules: grid operator Fingrid would draw up, with distribution network operators, a national assessment of the system’s flexibility needs, to be confirmed by the Energy Authority, which would also report national supplier-switching practices to the EU. Comments can be submitted through the Lausuntopalvelu.fi service until 21 October.
