Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has sought to reduce its dependence on energy from Russia.
The European Union has agreed to stop Russian natural gas imports by late 2027 and committed to phasing out Russian oil, the bloc announced on Dec. 2.
The Council of the EU, which is composed of national ministers from each of the 27 member states, and the European Parliament agreed on a provisional roadmap to introduce a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) by Dec. 31, 2026, and pipeline gas by Sept. 30, 2027.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said in a statement that the full phaseout of Russian fossil fuels set out in the REPowerEU Roadmap will “guarantee Europe’s energy independence, competitiveness, resilience and market stability.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement: “Today, we are stopping these imports permanently. By depleting Putin’s war chest, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and set our sights on new energy partnerships and opportunities for the sector.”
The EU’s executive branch also said it remains committed to phasing out all remaining oil imports by the end of 2027, with plans to propose bloc-wide legislation to ban Russian oil imports early next year.
The text of the political agreement will now need to be formally approved by the European Parliament, which comprises 720 lawmakers directly elected by citizens of individual EU member states, and by the Council of the EU.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has sought to reduce its dependence on energy from Russia. According to an explainer on the European Council’s website, “Russia’s share of EU imports of pipeline gas dropped from over 40% in 2021 to about 11% in 2024.”
In 2024, Russia accounted for less than 19 percent of the EU’s combined imports of gas and LNG.
