Brussels – In France, one in seven petrol stations has run out of fuel. Faced with a shortage of petrol and diesel and soaring prices linked to the crisis in the Middle East, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, has put pen to paper and, in a letter, asked the European Commission to temporarily relax some of the rules governing fuel and hydrocarbon imports. Paris’s aim is to “boost” import and production capacity in the short term and curb rising prices. The letter, sent on 18 September, has been received by the EU Commission, which is “examining its many aspects,” as confirmed today (22 September) by the Berlaymont Palace spokesperson for Climate and Energy, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
“The almost total closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March 2026 has led in recent months to a contraction in global oil supply and a significant reconfiguration of global hydrocarbon flows,” explained the French President. Given Europe’s dependence on imports from the Middle East, “particularly with regard to imports of kerosene (36 per cent) and diesel (18 per cent),” Paris is calling for an “exemption from European specifications on fuel quality”, including “density”, “compression”, and “desulphurisation”. The aim is to rapidly increase production. According to the Élysée Palace, relaxing these requirements could allow for “significant increases in production,” by “5–20 per cent.” There is a precedent: similar exemptions were accepted by the Commission during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Macron is also proposing a “relaxation of the limits on the use of biofuels,” particularly in diesel, so as to gain “a few percentage points of non-fossil fuel per litre” and free up “additional supply capacity.” Paris is also calling for a one-year postponement of the European regulation on methane emissions. The legislation, adopted by the EU in 2024, stipulates that from January 2027, importers of gas, oil, and coal must monitor and report the methane emissions associated with their supplies. Last July, the Commission had already approved a three-year extension for the penalties applicable in the event of non-compliance.
The measures listed by the French President – according to the Élysée – are emergency measures and must not interfere with long-term objectives, such as electrification and the diversification of supply sources. Overall, according to Macron, they could free up several tens of thousands of barrels a day. This quantity is, however, far below France’s average daily consumption of around 1.5 million barrels.
Meanwhile, however, according to the Berlaymont Building, “as long as we remain dependent on imported fossil fuels, our energy prices will continue to be volatile,” commented spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen. And while the 2022 crisis, triggered by Russia’s war against Ukraine, “was a supply crisis,” the current one “is something different, requiring a different response,” because “we are witnessing a global crisis in fossil fuel prices,” which “is driven by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.” What is certain for Brussels is that “clean energy sources remain the most cost-effective and are the only medium-term solution to reduce our exposure to price volatility.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
