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GENERAL COMMENTS • Currently, transport sector accounts for a quarter of the UE’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and this value continues to grow. • Natural gas (LNG/CNG) powered vehicles reduce GHG emissions of approximately 20-22% (sum of CO2, CH4 and N2O) and produce three times less NOx compared to gasoline or diesel vehicles. LNG-fuelled ships emit up to 100% less PM, up to 80% less NOX and up to 100% less SOX.

GENERAL COMMENTS • Defining compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as transition phase fuels and limiting infrastructure commitments only to LNG and until 1 January 2025 may result in a time-limited support for these technologies and hamper the development not only of the bioLNG and bioCNG sector, but also projects developed for mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas.

WKÖ supports the European Green Deal and stands by the climate neutrality goal by 2050. Now a concrete set of measures for a sustainable, ecological change in the EU, in line with a new growth strategy, is necessary. WKÖ will contribute to a legislative package that meets the requirements of effective climate protection and at the same time is practicable and compatible with economic prosperity.

GENERAL COMMENTS • EU legislation may lead to increased revenues, but also significant costs, for energy companies. However, to assess that, precise cost analyses must be conducted. Cost-efficiency should be at the heart of any policy planning. • All measures related to the reduction of methane emissions should be reasonable but not overly prescriptive to avoid excessive financial and technical burdens.

The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) welcomes the initiative of the European Commission (EC) to promote the reduction of methane emissions throughout the EU. In Austria, methane (CH4) is the second most relevant greenhouse gas with a share of 8.0 % in 2017. At the same time, methane emissions were reduced by 36.3 % between 1990 and 2017 (source: Umweltbundesamt: Klimaschutzbericht 2019).

WKÖ supports the European Green Deal and stands by the climate neutrality goal by 2050. Now a concrete set of measures for a sustainable, ecological change in the EU, in line with a new growth strategy, is necessary. WKÖ will contribute to a legislative package that meets the requirements of effective climate protection and at the same time is practicable and compatible with economic prosperity.

• Taking into account stringent obligations set out in Regulation, it is reasonable to set a 5 years deadline for full implementation the provisions of Regulation. • The „measurement” term should be replaced with „quantification” throughout the text of the regulation in order to allow additional instruments for better estimation of methane emissions. • The proposed term "component" in Article 2(8) is not defined.