The import of Russian gas into the European Union must be completely banned by the end of next year, according to the position adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday.
The Trade and Energy Committees voted on a draft regulation from the European Commission on a complete phase-out of Russian energy on Thursday morning. If the representatives have their way, oil imports will be completely banned by the new year.
A year later, by 1 January 2027, gas imports should also be completely eliminated.
With these deadlines, MEPs are advocating for an even faster phase-out than the Commission proposed in June. Meanwhile, as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia, the Commission is also pushing for an accelerated ban on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from January 2027.
Closing loopholes
MEPs also want to remove several exceptions and close loopholes in the legislation. They advocate for administrative fines of up to 5% of annual global turnover for companies attempting to circumvent the import ban.
The committees also advocated for a ban on providing services to Russian companies at LNG terminals starting in January 2027. This could have consequences for Fluxy, which operates the LNG terminal in Zeebrugge and still has a long-term contract with the Russian company Yamal.
Belgian diplomats have been urging the removal of the relevant articles in recent weeks – not because Belgium opposes the phasing out of Russian LNG, but because it fears that a ban based on this legal basis could be overturned by the European Court of Justice.
According to diplomatic sources, the other EU Member States also appear to favour this approach. The energy ministers of the 27 countries will discuss the regulation at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
Afterwards, the Member States and the European Parliament will have to reach an agreement.
