The European Commission insisted this Tuesday, 16th, on “no forever” to liquefied Russian gas and warned of the dangers that could arise if the European Union (EU) had “the luxury of repeating past mistakes”.
“Everyone will understand, from Moscow to Washington, what we are doing […]. It is a historic decision”, said the Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, during a debate at the European Parliament (EP), in Strasbourg, France.
The European Commissioner added that it is a decision with no return: “It is not temporary or limited in time.”
Asking the EP to support this decision by the European community executive, Dan Jørgensen added that ending the import of liquefied Russian gas by EU countries is not a decision that can be reviewed “in six months or depending on the national circumstances of a given Member State”.
“Even if there is peace [na Ucrânia]it is a no forever, we will not import a single molecule of gas, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past”, he commented.
MEP Ville Matti Niinistö (Finland, from the Greens group), co-rapporteur of the report that gives the green light to the end of imports of liquefied Russian gas, asked the remaining MEPs to think in the “long term” and about the opportunity that the EU has to “end dependence [energética] from third countries”.
In line with this, Inese Vaidere (Latvia, European People’s Party), the other EP co-rapporteur, maintained that, “for the first time, the European Union will put an end to it” and demonstrate that Russia “has never been a viable partner, which has always manipulated the flow of gas to destabilize governments”.
“This was clear with Ukraine […]I was using it as a throwing weapon and the European Union needs alternatives”, he commented.
On December 3, the European Union reached an agreement to ban all imports of Russian gas into the European Union in autumn 2027.
MEPs from the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy and International Trade committees, as well as the Danish presidency of the Council of the EU, agreed to ban imports of Russian natural gas from the regulation’s entry into force in early 2026 for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the spot market, and from 30 September 2027 for gas transported by pipeline.
The ban on long-term contracts will come into force on November 1, 2027 at the latest.