In a new draft compromise by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU on the REPowerEU regulation, shared on Thursday 25 September, the date of 1 January 2028 has been retained for a complete phase-out of Russian gas imports into the EU.
A week earlier, as part of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, the European Commission put forward a proposal to phase out imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year earlier than envisaged in the proposed REPowerEU regulation (by 1 January 2027), in response to a request from US President Donald Trump (see EUROPE 13713/1).
The Danish Presidency’s draft compromise, which will be discussed by the national energy experts of the EU Council on Tuesday 30 September, does not take direct account of this new European Commission proposal. It retains the original date and has also removed the reference to 1 January 2026 for the ban on new contracts (concluded after 17 June 2025), as initially proposed by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13709/5).
Greater flexibility for prior authorisation process. With regard to the verification process, the Presidency states that importers of natural gas from gas-producing countries may be exempted from the ex-ante authorisation process if the Union has imported significant volumes from these countries in the past (more than 5 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2024) and if these countries “have shown that they do not want to support the Russian gas sector” by a prohibition of the import of Russian gas and the introduction of restrictive measures targeting Russian gas infrastructure.
The same applies to exporting countries that do not dispose of the gas infrastructure to import LNG or natural gas via pipelines.
With regard to the rendezvous clause, the new document adds that, two years after the entry into force of the regulation, the European Commission must submit a report on implementation of the regulation to the European Parliament and the Council.
In addition, in case of “sudden and significant developments”, the European Commission may also suspend the obligation to submit proof and be grated prior authorisation defining the country of production.
In addition, the Danish Presidency now states that proof to establish the country of production of this natural gas must be received no later than five working days before it enters the customs territory, whereas previously, it was seven days.
Read the latest proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/imt (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)