The EU's plan to stop importing Russian gas once and for all

BrusselsOne of the main consequences of the war in Ukraine for the European Union was the energy decoupling between the community bloc and Russia, which caused a major energy crisisDespite the European club's dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which provided access to a large amount of relatively cheap energy—especially for German industry—Brussels and the Member States sought to abruptly cut off gas imports from Vladimir Putin's regime and substantially reduced their purchases.

However, the European Commission itself warns that purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia, which has been excluded from EU sanctions, have rebounded during 2024 and wants to prevent further growth. Thus, and with the intention of continuing to punish Moscow and guarantee access to energy, Brussels proposed this Tuesday a coordinated and gradual reduction in the acquisition of Russian gas, until achieving complete energy independence from the Kremlin.

Specifically, the European Commission intends to ban the signing of new gas import contracts by pipeline or LNG from now on, and to terminate existing contracts from the end of 2025. Thus, Brussels estimates that it will have stopped buying gas by the end of 2027. "Russia will no longer blackmail our states. Euros will no longer fill the war chest," said European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, who criticized the fact that since the beginning of the war the EU has spent more money buying fossil fuels from Moscow than from abroad.

It should be remembered that last year Spain was one of the countries that produced the most liquefied natural gas. imported from Russia from all over the European Union, surpassed only by France. €2 billion worth of LNG was imported into the country, and the only EU member to reduce its imports was Belgium, which cut them by 29% compared to the previous year, according to the annual study. LNG tracker.

However, the European Commission does not fear that ending Russian gas imports could weaken the European bloc's energy security; on the contrary, the EU executive sees energy purchases from Russia as a threat to the European Union and assures that it will compensate by purchasing energy from other partners it considers more reliable and generating more energy through renewables. In fact, several international media outlets point out that one of the options Brussels is considering to avoid a trade war with Donald Trump is buy much more LNG in the United States.

In any case, this measure still needs to be negotiated by the EU Council – the body that represents the member states – and the European Parliament. Putin.

However, from February 2022 until now, imports of all types of Russian gas imported by the EU have decreased substantially, from 45% of what it consumed in 2021 to 19% in 2024. And the European Commission's own projections estimate that the rate will decrease in 2025. Regarding oil, the percentage of total oil purchased by the European bloc was 27% at the beginning of 2022 and is now close to 3%.