Brussels briefing

Childers challenges fracking regulations

With shale gas making the US self sufficient in hydrocarbons, the push is on in the EU to exploit the much smaller repositories of the gas with a massive lobbying campaign under way by the big oil companies.

The current EU regulations on fracking, however, mean there would be no need for an assessment of its effect on the environment as the level at which an Environmental Impact Assessment is set is higher than that required for industrial activities of this kind, according to Labour MEP Nessa Childers.