The European Commission has published minimal – some called them minimalist – and non-binding guidelines for shale gas exploitation. Its Recommendation (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/energy/unconventional_en.htm) published on 22 January is aimed at allaying the public’s fears about associated risk to health and the environment.

Following a public consultation last year, environment commissioner Janez Potocnik, called for a uniform risk management framework across member states that would allow companies to reap the “long-term economic benefits while assuring critics that fracking carried out with “proper climate and environmental safeguards” – see Plasteurope.com of 17.12.2013.

With some EU countries such as the UK and Poland wholeheartedly embracing shale gas exploitation, others such as Germany and France still on the fence and The Netherlands poised to jump into the fray, the Commission said it wants to ensure that “risks that may arise from individual projects and cumulative developments are managed adequately in member states.”

The new rules, intended to complement existing EU legislation, which Potocnik last year suggested may not be adequate, may cover issues such as strategic environmental assessment and planning, underground risk assessment, well integrity, baseline reporting and operational monitoring, capture of methane emissions and disclosure of chemicals used in each well.

Concretely, the Commission advises member states to prepare a strategic environmental assessment before drilling – explicitly studying suitability of geological formations. States also should provide opportunity for public participation and develop uniform rules for issuing permits. Well operators should be obliged to develop project-specific water management plans, while manufacturers, importers and downstream users of chemicals used in fracking should declare the intended application when complying with REACH rules.

Member states must transpose the principles into their own law within six months of the document’s publication and also inform the Commission annually about measures taken. The first reports are due in December 2014. The EU authority – which reserves for itself the right to “propose further legal clarification where necessary – said it will monitor application of the Recommendation and make available a scoreboard for comparison. In a review after 18 months, the Commission is to decide whether there is a need for binding legislation.

As expected, environmental and other non-governmental organisations criticised the Recommendation for its non-binding character – the same reason for which it received praise elsewhere. It was widely reported that the government of the UK, where the international oil and gas industry is gearing up for a “shale rush,” intensively lobbied the Commission to scrap its initial plans for a directive regulating the industry.

In a Communication, published alongside the Recommendation, the Commission said that despite any fracking successes, the EU will not become self-sufficient in natural gas. In a “best-case scenario”, shale gas would hold approximate 3% of the energy mix in Europe by 2030, it said.