Imposing sanctions would be the quickest way for the EU to stop Russian gas imports. However, sanctions require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries, while Slovakia and Hungary, which still receive supplies from Russian pipelines, have vowed to oppose them. The US is pressuring Russia for a peace deal with Ukraine, which, if achieved, could reopen the door to Russian energy and ease sanctions.
The European Commission is expected to outline a plan on Tuesday to block new Russian gas deals and gradually terminate existing contracts with Moscow as it seeks to end decades of energy ties with Europe’s once-major gas supplier. According to Reuters, the EU has a non-binding goal to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, which it set after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. One of the measures the Commission is preparing to implement is to allow European companies to “break” existing Russian gas contracts by the end of 2027.
However, lawyers have said that it will be difficult to break these deals en masse and that buyers could face sanctions. Whatever tools the Commission proposes, they will not be activated immediately. The Commission must proceed with legislative proposals in the coming months, which will require the approval of the European Parliament and a qualified majority of EU countries, depending on the type of legal instrument proposed. Plans could change until the last minute, before the final plan is published later today.
About 19% of Europe’s natural gas still comes from Russia, via the TurkStream pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments. That’s down from the 40% Russia supplied before 2022. But European buyers still have “take-or-pay” contracts with Gazprom, which require those who refuse gas supplies to pay back most of the contracted volumes.
As it seeks to reduce Russian imports, the European Commission has said it is willing to buy more American LNG (a type of gas), one of the steps President Donald Trump has urged Europe to take as a way to reduce its trade surplus with the United States. The Commission is also concerned about energy prices and has said any move to limit Russian energy imports should hit Moscow harder than the EU and take into account the impact on fuel costs.
Imposing sanctions would be the quickest way for the EU to stop Russian gas imports. However, the sanctions require unanimous approval by all 27 EU countries, while Slovakia and Hungary, which still receive supplies from Russian pipelines, have vowed to oppose them. The US is pressuring Russia for a peace deal with Ukraine, which, if achieved, could reopen the door to Russian energy and ease sanctions. The European Commission had initially planned to publish its action plan in March, but delayed it in part because of the uncertainty surrounding these developments.
