The European Union wishes to end the imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027. A challenge that promises to be difficult as the dependence of Europe remains important. “It is now time for Europe to completely break its energy ties” with Russia by Vladimir Putin, launched the president of the Ursula von der Leyen commission.
The European Commission unveiled its plan on Tuesday to definitively put an end to the imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027, a difficult challenge as the dependence of Europe remains important. The European executive proposes to act in two stages: the prohibition of new contracts and short contracts (spot) existing with Russian companies at the end of 2025, then the extinction of all imports of gas since Russia two years later.
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“It is now time for Europe to completely break its energy ties” with Russia by Vladimir Putin, launched the president of the Ursula von der Leyen commission, more than three years after the invasion of Ukraine: “We owe it to our citizens, our companies and our courageous Ukrainian friends”.
The share of Russian gas imports in the EU increased from 45% in 2021 to 19% in 2024
Several times postponed before its presentation on Tuesday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, this roadmap will now be subject to the Member States and Parliament. The discussions promise to be sensitive against the background of fears of a new outbreak of energy prices.
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Admittedly, the share of imports of Russian gas in the European Union increased from 45% in 2021 to 19% in 2024. But if the Union has endeavored to reduce its supplies by gas pipeline, it has partly turned towards liquefied natural gas (GNL), transported by ship, unloaded in ports, reversed and then injected into the European gas network.
LNG imports thus reach records. And far behind the United States (45%), Russia occupies a central place in this area with 20% of EU imports in 2024, or 20 billion cubic meters on the hundred billions imported.
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The walk will be high, while the commission promised in 2022 to do without Russian fuels “by 2027”. One of the major challenges will be the diversification of supplies. The EU had mentioned several months ago the possibility of further increasing its American LNG imports. But trade tensions with the United States of Donald Trump have scrambled the cards.
“The Commission may replace a disastrous dependence by another”
It was not until May 1 that the European Commissioner in charge of Commerce, Maros Sefcovic, suggests again in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper to “resolve very quickly” the dispute with the Trump administration thanks to purchases of American LNG or agricultural products like soy.
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The American president himself put strong pressure on the Europeans in early April by claiming them to massively order energy in the United States, up to $ 350 billion (309 billion euros). “The Commission is likely to replace a disastrous dependence by another – disconnect Putin gas and plug that of Trump,” said the Greenpeace environmental organization, which pleads for energy savings and the development of renewables.
How will the Member States position themselves? Some like Hungary do not hide their proximity to Moscow. Others are increasingly dependent on Russian LNG. France finds itself for example on the front line with its five regzéification terminals including that of Dunkirk. According to the IEEFA reflection group, it increased its Russian LNG imports between 2023 and 2024 by 81 % and paid 2.68 billion euros to Russia.
For its part, Totalenergies had already warned in the past against the risk of an increase in prices if Russian energy is banned. Beyond the liquefied gas, the European Commission continues to highlight all the efforts that have been made to reduce dependence on Russian fossils since the invasion of Ukraine.
An embargo on Russian oil imports was thus established at the end of 2022 in the EU. “We went from one barrel of five to five to one barrel out of fifty,” insisted Ursula von der Leyen at the end of April in London. With its new roadmap, Brussels promises new actions against the Russian ghost fleet, often aging oil ships operated under a foreign pavilion, accused of being used to bypass Western sanctions.
Measures against Russian imports of enriched uranium are also mentioned for the month of June. “Today, the European Union sends a very clear message to Russia: we will never allow Russia to use energy as a weapon against us,” said European Commissioner Dan Jorgensen.
