The final text of the agreement between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the ‘REPowerEU’ regulation for a gradual phase-out of Russian gas, consulted by Agence Europe, was finalised on Friday 5 December (see EUROPE 13765/3).
It was debriefed by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU on the same day, before being formally adopted at ministerial level shortly. The European Parliament will have to give its final approval at a plenary vote in Strasbourg on Tuesday 16 December.
As previously announced, all imports of Russian gas will be banned by 30 September 2027. This is the latest deadline for the gradual phasing out of Russian gas imports, which concerns contracts for gas transported by pipeline. According to the European Commission, the abandonment of these long-term contracts, brought forward to 1 January 2027, as is the case for long-term contracts for Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), represented a risk for energy prices.
This “exit” on 30 September 2027 is subject to compliance with the storage capacity filling targets set out in the regulation on gas storage (see EUROPE 13684/34).
The final ‘REPowerEU’ regulation specifies that, in the event that the Commission identifies “a risk” that the 2027 filling target for underground storage in a Member State will not be reached, it will be necessary to recognise this possible failure “by way of an implementing decision no later than 15 September 2027”.
In this case, the ban on existing contracts would only apply from 1 November 2027 in the Member State concerned. The Commission is also required to inform the Gas Coordination Group, the European Parliament and the EU Council “without delay”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)