EU moves to end dependence on Russian gas with 2027 import ban

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on regulations to phase out imports of Russian natural gas by 2027 under the REPowerEU plan.

The announcement was published on the official website of the EU Council on Wednesday, December 3.

“This is a major victory for us and for all of Europe. We must end the EU’s dependence on Russian gas, and a permanent ban in the EU is an important step in the right direction,” said Lars Aagaard, Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, representing the country currently holding the EU Council presidency.

Under the plan, existing contracts will benefit from a transitional period. For short-term contracts signed before June 17, 2025, the import ban will take effect on April 25, 2026, for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and on June 17, 2026, for pipeline gas.

For long-term LNG contracts, the ban will come into force on January 1, 2027, in accordance with the EU’s 19th sanctions package. Long-term pipeline gas contracts will be gradually terminated starting September 30, 2027, provided that target gas storage levels are met, but in any case, no later than November 1, 2027.

To ensure compliance with the ban, the EU will implement a prior authorisation system for gas imports. For Russian gas, the required information to obtain authorisation must be submitted at least one month before delivery. The prior authorisation procedure will not apply to imports from gas-producing countries that exported more than five billion cubic meters of gas to the EU in 2024, countries that prohibit or restrict Russian gas imports, or countries without the infrastructure to import gas.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU countries agreed on the necessity of quickly reducing dependence on Russian gas, though in practice this has been challenging. As of October 2025, Russian gas accounted for 12 per cent of the EU’s gas imports, compared with about 45 per cent before the war.

By Tamilla Hasanova