The Commission considers that there is a strong air quality case for keeping the development of methane emissions in the Member States under review in order to reduce ozone concentrations in the EU and to promote methane reductions internationally.

The Commission confirms that on the basis of the reported national emissions, it intends to further assess the impact of methane emissions on achieving the objectives set out in Art. 1 paragraph 2 of the NEC Directive and will consider measures for reducing those emissions, and where appropriate, submit a legislative proposal to that purpose. In its assessment, the Commission will take into account a number of ongoing studies in this field, due to be finalised in 2017, as well as further international developments in this area.