The European Union has reached a landmark political agreement to end its reliance on Russian gas. Starting next year, the bloc will impose a full ban on Russian gas imports, marking one of the most consequential shifts in Europe’s energy policy in decades.
Russian gas imports and the new phase of EU energy policy
Europe reached a historic political deal overnight to permanently give up Russian gas imports. The European Union will start banning them at the beginning of next year, after lawmakers, officials, and diplomats managed to agree on a key piece of legislation that is expected to rewrite the history of the European energy sector.
“At the beginning of the war, we were paying Russia 12 billion euros a month for fossil fuels. Now we are down to 1.5 billion euros a month. We aim to reach zero,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “This is a positive day for Europe and for our independence from Russian fossil fuels, this is how we make Europe resilient.”
“In recent years, Europe has delivered concrete results and solved what many thought was impossible. We diversified our supply with new, reliable partnerships. We invested massively in renewable energy. And winter after winter, we kept our homes warm, the lights on, and everyone safe with REPowerEU. Half of our electricity now comes from renewable sources. Our gas imports from Russia have fallen to 11 percent, down from 45 percent,” von der Leyen added.
Ville Niinistö, chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, called the outcome a “historic achievement.” He said the EU is “taking huge steps toward a new era free from Russian gas and oil” and stressed that Russia will no longer be able to use fossil fuel exports as a weapon against Europe. Parliament’s top priority, he noted, was to speed up the timing of the ban on Russian gas imports via pipeline, to end long term LNG contracts a year earlier, and to close off any avenues for bypassing the rules.
“Now we must move quickly to finalize this agreement and turn our attention to oil imports, where we will hold the European Commission to its commitment to present a legislative proposal early next year,” he added.
Ending Europe’s energy dependence on Moscow
Last summer, the European Commission presented the draft law designed to put an end to Europe’s energy dependence on Moscow. European imports of Russian gas have dropped sharply since 2022, and purchases of Russian gas are already covered by sanctions that must be renewed every six months. The new rules, however, are meant to make the break with Russia permanent.
In October, the 27 member states agreed on the Council’s negotiating stance, simplifying some customs obligations compared with the Commission’s original proposal and adding extra monitoring mechanisms.
Through this law, Europe wants to end once and for all the systematic militarization of energy supplies by Russia, which escalated after the full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since the war began almost four years ago, Moscow has deliberately manipulated the market, repeatedly cutting off gas pipeline flows at short notice. Those actions drove energy prices up to eight times higher than pre crisis levels.
The law that will stop Russian gas imports
After the expected final approval by Parliament and Council, the law will enter into force on January 1 of next year and will apply to different types of gas with phased and staggered timelines.
Spot market purchases of Russian gas will be banned by the end of 2025. Existing short term and long term contracts will be prohibited starting in 2026 and 2027. The ban on Russian gas imports via pipeline will apply from September 2027, mainly because of concerns in countries still heavily dependent on Russian gas, such as Slovakia and Hungary.
More specifically, long term pipeline contracts, considered the most critical, will be banned from September 30, 2027, provided storage levels are sufficient, and in any case no later than November 1, 2027. For liquefied natural gas, long term contracts will be banned from January 1, 2027, as requested by the Commission President. Short term LNG contracts will be banned earlier, from April 25, 2026, and short term pipeline supplies from June 17, 2026.
Members of the European Parliament pushed hard to accelerate the phase out of Russian oil and gas and ultimately succeeded in preventing any ban from being pushed beyond 2027. Parliament also secured a commitment from national governments to harmonize sanctions against companies that violate the rules, requiring one of three possible financial penalties, a flat 40 million euro fine, 3.5 percent of annual turnover, or 300 percent of the value of the unlawful transaction.
Next steps for the Russian gas imports ban
The agreement still needs formal approval from both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before it can become law. The Committees on Industry, Research and Energy and on International Trade will vote jointly on the deal on December 11. Parliament will then vote during the December 15 to 18 plenary session.
