Katherina Reiche fought EU regulation: Economics Minister as a gas lobbyist

Environmental organizations are once again criticizing Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche's proximity to the gas industry. After meetings with representatives from BP, Exxonmobil and the fossil lobby group American Petroleum Institute in the USA, the CDU politician and her state secretary Frank Wetzel advocated for a “pragmatic” implementation of the EU methane regulation and wanted to hinder its enforcement, criticize Greenpeace and German Environmental Aid (DUH).

This is evident from the minister's schedule as well as from documents relating to the preparation of the trip, to which DUH, Greenpeace and the research portal FragDenStaat were given access after repeated insistence on the Environmental Information Act (UIG) and Freedom of Information Act (IFG). Because a lot of information is still blacked out, the organizations have already lodged an objection against the decisions. In addition, the Green parliamentary group is conducting a small parliamentary inquiry into the reasons for the redactions.

It's about a visit by the Germans to Cera Week, the central industry event for the US gas industry in Houston at the end of March 2026. According to Greenpeace, Reiche decided to take part against the advice of her own experts - and used the conference to prepare new US gas deliveries and a return of nuclear power in Germany. Among other things, she also campaigned for the small nuclear reactors known as SMRs.

Above all, a short time later the minister publicly supported the fossil lobby's campaign against the EU methane regulation. According to this regulation, oil and gas companies in Europe must ensure that less methane escapes along their supply chain. According to the regulation, since August 2024, companies must pay attention to methane emissions, which often occur unintentionally during oil and gas production. Methane is considered to be 80 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide, and avoiding emissions is comparatively easy. Nevertheless, lobby associations have been campaigning against the EU regulation for years because the measurement and reporting requirements it contains cost money.

“EU law, such as the Methane Ordinance, must not hinder reliable energy deliveries to Germany,” said Reiche a few days after her return from the USA. The regulation “leads to considerable legal uncertainty” and could “impair security of supply”.

At the end of June, in contrast to the previous German position in Brussels, she even spoke out in favor of postponing the directive - and in doing so duped the SPD Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, who was actually responsible. He considers the methane regulation to be an “important climate protection instrument in the energy sector”.

Even after the EU decided in July, with Schneider's consent, not to sanction violations until 2029, Reiche stuck to her criticism. The minister's demand to "postpone the regulation by three years is simply an attempt to trigger a complete renegotiation with an unclear outcome," criticized the DUH at the time. Because: EU law does not provide for such a postponement; this would only increase legal uncertainty.

Until she took office in May 2025, the minister was head of the energy supplier Westenergie, which makes money from gas networks, among other things. The accusation that she is acting as a gas lobbyist and thwarting the energy transition is not new. A common criticism is that the tendering of gas power plants, which the federal government is allowed to fund with 35 billion euros, is harmful to the climate, unnecessary from an energy perspective and only serves the interests of the fossil fuel industry.

“The explosive documents prove in black and white: Katherina Reiche acts as the chief lobbyist for the gas and nuclear industry,” said Sascha Müller-Kraenner, federal managing director of the DUH. Reiche's position reflects “one-to-one the opinion of the US gas industry,” criticized Greenpeace. The ministry said it would not comment on “speculative allegations.”