European Commission urged to preserve 2025 hydrogen rules
Stakeholders press Commission to keep hydrogen rules stable
A coalition of green organizations and producers has called on the European Commission to resist pressure to re-open the new regulatory package that took effect in 2025, including Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2359.
Supporters of maintaining the current text say rushing changes would erode the legal clarity that firms rely on when making long-term investment decisions for hydrogen projects.
They single out proposed moves to hasten review of rules covering additionality and the requirements linking renewable electricity to precise time and place — arguing such changes should wait until the scheduled 2028 reassessment.
Their letter warns that weakening those criteria could have a cascading effect: lower investor certainty, slower project financing, and a muddled pathway for producing genuinely low-carbon hydrogen at scale.
From a market perspective, the 2025 regulatory package provides a predictable benchmark for offtakers and financiers; altering it prematurely would inject policy risk into nascent supply chains.
The groups also highlight operational concerns: if grid-related matching rules are loosened, producers may increase reliance on fossil-backed power at certain hours, complicating grid balancing and emissions accounting.
Rather than accelerate change, signatories recommend sticking to the original timeline so the 2028 review can draw on more market data and pilot outcomes across member states.
They frame their appeal as protecting both climate ambition and the commercial conditions necessary for rapid hydrogen deployment, stressing that regulatory certainty shortens the path from planning to commissioning.
The message is both technical and strategic: fine-tuning later, with evidence, beats making early amendments that could slow scale-up.
If the Commission heeds the call, stakeholders expect steadier capital flows into electrolysis, clearer RFNBO (renewable fuels of non-biological origin) supply chains, and fewer inconsistencies between national support schemes.
If it does not, the letter claims, market fragmentation and added compliance complexity would likely follow — outcomes that would raise costs for buyers and slow overall deployment rates.
The organizations provided a joint letter and urged the Commission to use the planned 2028 milestone to assess performance and adapt rules based on observed market behavior.
Read Our Expert Analysis
Create an account or login for free to unlock our expert analysis and key takeaways for this development.
By continuing, you agree to receive marketing communications and our weekly newsletter. You can opt-out at any time.
Recommended for you
Germany's Pressurized, Idle Hydrogen Line Forces a Strategic Reset Toward Electrification
A newly built, pressurized hydrogen pipeline segment in Germany stands unused because neither supply nor demand materialized, creating a large, regulated capital liability. Policymakers now face a binary choice: subsidize speculative molecule markets and raise consumer bills, or recast the asset as a contingency while redirecting investment toward grid upgrades and electrification.
U.S. advocacy coalition urges NHTSA to abandon rollback of fuel-economy rules
A consortium of environmental, consumer and health organizations submitted formal objections to NHTSA’s proposal to lower federal fleet fuel-economy expectations, arguing the plan is legally weak and economically harmful. They say the rule would make vehicles less efficient, increase lifetime fuel costs for drivers, and worsen air quality, and they urged the agency to withdraw the proposal.
Europe’s Commission quietly shifts: electricity treated as infrastructure, not a tax base
A leaked European Commission recommendation urges Member States to cut VAT and excise on electricity, remove levies from bills, and align retail taxation to favor electrification. The change reframes electricity as a critical economic input rather than a heavily taxed consumer commodity, but the proposal stops short of mandatory fossil fuel tax rises or binding timelines.
