On Wednesday 10 December, the Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) validated the provisional agreement between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the ‘REPowerEU’ regulation.
On Wednesday 3 December, the co-legislators reached agreement on a gradual phase-out of all imports of Russian gas (pipeline and LNG), extending until 30 December 2027 for long-term contracts for Russian gas transported by pipeline (see EUROPE 13767/5).
The European Parliament still has to validate the agreement on Monday 15 December, at a joint meeting of the Industry (ITRE) and International Trade (INTA) Committees. This approval will be followed by a vote at the plenary session in Strasbourg, scheduled for Wednesday 17 December.
On the side of the Member States, the European ministers are not expected to validate the agreement before the organisation of a new sectoral Council in January, after the winter break in the European institutions. At the Coreper meeting, only Hungary and Slovakia rejected the compromise.
The regulation will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The ban on new Russian gas contracts will begin six weeks after this publication.
Link to the final compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/jx8 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)