EU leaders agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, including an embargo on Russian oil, in two stages, on the night of Monday 30 to Tuesday 31 May.
The Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) will meet on Wednesday 1 June to adopt the legal acts related to this decision. The Commission proposed this sixth package of measures on 4 May (see EUROPE 12945/1).
“There is an agreement to ban Russian oil exports to the EU. This measure immediately covers more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports, cutting off a huge source of funding for its war machine”, said European Council President Charles Michel. The measure regards exports by sea.
“The European Council agrees that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia will cover crude oil, as well as petroleum products, delivered from Russia into Member States, with a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline”, the European Council conclusions state. A delay is given for oil imported via pipelines in order to satisfy Hungary, which is heavily dependent on Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline.
“This will effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year”, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Indeed, in addition to oil imported by sea, Germany and Poland have committed themselves to stopping imports via pipelines by the end of the year.
According to an EU source, the deadline for ending oil imports by sea is six months. It is eight months for refined products and the Czech Republic, which is very dependent on Russian diesel, has obtained an 18-month exemption on these products.
The European Council calls on the EU Council to finalise and adopt the leaders’ decision “without delay”, “ensuring a well-functioning EU Single Market, fair competition, solidarity among Member States and a level playing field also with regard to the phasing out of our dependency on Russian fossil fuels”.
“In case of sudden interruptions of supply, emergency measures will be introduced to ensure security of supply. In this respect, the Commission will monitor and report regularly to the EU Council on the implementation of these measures to ensure a level playing field in the EU Single Market and security of supply”, the conclusions add.
On his arrival at the European Council, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán explained that he needed guarantees in the event of an interruption in the transfer of oil by pipeline. “If the oil is stopped and does not reach the country, we should be allowed to get oil by other means, such as sea transport”, he said, adding that Ukraine could decide to block the transit of Russian oil through its territory.
According to Ms von der Leyen, Croatia is ready to increase the capacity of the Adriatic pipeline to supply oil to Hungary. This would require 55 to 60 days, “a reasonable time frame”, and some financial investment.
Hungarian refineries should be upgraded to accommodate Adriatic oil, differing from Russian oil. An EU source added that the leaders had instructed ambassadors to make provision for a landlocked country to be able to obtain oil by sea in case of a problem.
Furthermore, the European Council will return “as soon as possible” to the issue of the temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline. “There are ways to speed up the process”, Ms Von der Leyen explained. No definite date is mentioned, either for revisiting the issue or for the entry into force of such an embargo. According to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, leaders will return to the issue at the next European Council at the end of June.
“For Hungary, there is a short period of time needed to make the adjustment in the refining facilities. We have not said specifically how much we are talking about, but there will be monitoring by the Commission to ensure that this does not go on for too long”, said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo.
The sixth sanctions package also involves the exclusion of several banks from SWIFT, among them Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, three Russian TV channels and targeted sanctions.
No sooner had the political agreement been reached than the Latvian Prime Minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, called for further measures. “We must not stop - work must continue on the new EU sanctions against Russia”, he said.
In a video address to the Summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called for unity among Member States, adding that it was important to stop the Russian war machine, according to an EU source. According to this source, the Ukrainian President had called for the adoption of sanctions as soon as possible, also recalling the heavy losses suffered by his country since the adoption of the fifth package.
See the European Council conclusions on Ukraine: https://aeur.eu/f/1va (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Anne Damiani, Mathieu Bion, Lionel Changeur, and Damien Genicot)