During its 8-9 October, 103rd plenary session, the Committee of took a position on shale gas. The opinion addressed the exploration and extraction of the shale gas and oil (unconventional hydrocarbons). It called for tighter regulation of these energy sources and suggested that they posed serious environmental and health risks not only on the local but also the global level.

"There was a distinct lack of constructive approach in regards to the issuing of the opinion, which ignored strong opposition arguments. The position divided the Committee of the Regions as the opinion was voted in with a weak mandate with only a 20 vote majority, with the vote splitting 84 in favour, 64 against, and 8 abstentions – said the ECR Group President Cllr. Gordon Keymer CBE.

Mr. Keymer also stated: "We strongly regret that the opinion was one-sided. It focused solely on the downsides of these resources without taking into account the wealth of possible benefits. The United States have been successfully extracting shale gas, which has put it in a substantially more favourable position in comparison to the EU and the EU cannot be saying "no" to fracking during the times of an economic crisis when it should be stimulating growth and fostering innovation".
 

The ECR coordinator for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) Commission Daiva Matoniene said: "The opinion overlooked not only the economic benefits of fracking but also the strong interests of various Member States such as Lithuania and Poland, who are looking into becoming more energy independent. It is an extremely important issue for these countries and also the region as a whole thus the interests of these Member States should have been taken into account to a greater extent.