The EU Council and Parliament have agreed to ban imports of Russian natural gas from entry into force in early 2026 of the Regulation for spot-market liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a ban for pipeline gas from September 2027.
“This is a historic outcome: the EU is taking giant steps towards a new era free of Russian gas and oil,” said said lead MEP for the European Parliament’s Energy committee Ville Niinistö MEP: “Russia can never again use fossil fuel exports as a weapon against Europe.”
The co-legislators confirmed that imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG will be prohibited from six weeks after entry into force of the regulation, while maintaining a transition period for existing contracts. In particular:
- for short-term supply contracts concluded before 17 June 2025, the prohibition of Russian gas imports will apply from 25 April 2026 for LNG and 17 June 2026 for pipeline gas
- for long-term contracts for LNG imports, the prohibition will apply from 1 January 2027, in line with the 19th sanctions package
- as regards long-term contracts for pipeline gas imports, the prohibition will kick in on 30 September 2027, provided that member states are on track to fulfil the storage filling targets foreseen in the gas storage regulation, and at the latest on 1 November 2027
Amendments to existing contracts will be permitted only for narrowly defined operational purposes and cannot lead to increased volumes.
The co-legislators included the requirement that both categories of gas imports be subject to a prior authorisation regime in order to ensure that the prohibition will work in practice.
- for Russian gas and those imports falling under the transition period, the information required for authorisation must be submitted at least one month before entry
- for non-Russian gas, the proof must be provided at least five days before entry and 7 days for gas imported via the Strandzha 1 interconnection point
In order to reduce the administrative burden, the co-legislators agreed that this prior authorisation procedure would not apply to imports from countries that fulfil certain criteria, such as major gas-producing countries that exported more than 5 bcm of natural gas to the EU in 2024, and that either prohibit or restrict imports of Russian gas, or countries without any infrastructure to import. Based on ongoing monitoring by customs and authorising authorities, the Commission can update the list of exempted countries and, if necessary, may remove countries from the list, e.g. in case of documented circumvention.
The co-legislators also required the Commission to review the implementation of the regulation within two years of its entry into force, including the provisions on the prior authorisation procedures.
Liquefied natural gas infrastructure in the EU (infographic)
