Joint Statement of the Informal Coalition on Permitting

Permit‑granting procedures remain a major bottleneck for the development of biomethane production, often taking between three and seven years due to multiple layers of requirements, fragmented responsibilities across authorities, and insufficient digitalisation. To address this, this joint statement calls for an integrated and simplified EU permitting framework, positioning permitting as a strategic priority for Member States, and introducing enforceable time limits, digital tracking tools, and accountability mechanisms—particularly in the implementation of RED III. It also highlights the need to strengthen permitting authorities with adequate human and IT resources. These measures are essential for accelerating the deployment of biogas and biomethane plants, and the statement urges swift adoption of RED III procedures along with complementary improvements. The appeal is issued by the Informal Permitting Coalition, which brings together over 18 European and national organisations from the energy, raw materials, circular economy, industrial and infrastructure sectors.