Despite Russia's offensive war against Ukraine having been going on for over 3.5 years, large quantities of natural gas have still been imported by some EU countries. Now, imports of both liquid and pipelined Russian gas are to be banned in phases, with importers who have entered into long-term pipeline gas contracts given until 30 September 2027 to turn off the taps.
The rules for the phase-out were negotiated between the EU Council of Ministers and the EU Parliament.
"A historic day for our union. We are turning the page and doing it for good. This is the beginning of Europe's full independence from Russian energy," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference in Brussels.
The Kremlin claims that the measure will “accelerate” the union’s decline.
This means that Europe is condemning itself to much more expensive energy sources, said spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to AFP.
Then the gas becomes illegal
New contracts will be prohibited from six weeks after the legislation comes into force, which is expected to be the end of January 2026.
Short-term contracts for liquid and pipeline gas signed before June this year may continue until April 25 and June 17, 2026, respectively.
The long-term contracts for liquid gas follow the sanctions imposed on Russia, which means that they may continue to apply until January 1, 2027. Long-term contracts for pipeline gas may apply until September 30 of the same year.
Individual plans
Member states will now develop individual plans for how to implement the regulations and review any potential obstacles that may arise. Countries that import Russian oil will also develop a similar plan for phasing out.
No regulations for the phasing out of Russian oil have yet been finalized, but the European Commission hopes to phase out the oil as well in 2027.
"At the beginning of next year we will present a proposal to ban imports of all Russian oil," said Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen at the press conference in Brussels.
