“EU has presented a roadmap for phasing out Russian energy: this includes Russian natural gas, uranium and “shadow fleet”The European Commission has presented the REPowerEU plan for complete energy independence from Russia. It is planned to gradually
remove Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy from EU markets.”, — write: unn.ua
Details”The EU will end its dependence on Russian energy by ending the import of Russian gas and oil and gradually abandoning Russian nuclear energy, while ensuring stable energy supplies and prices across the Union. The REPowerEU roadmap, presented today by the European Commission, paves the way for ensuring the EU’s complete energy independence from Russia,” the European institution said.
As indicated, “despite significant progress made under the REPowerEU plan and sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in 2024 the EU saw a recovery in imports of Russian gas.” Therefore, as noted, “more coordinated action is needed, as the EU’s excessive dependence on imports of Russian energy poses a threat to security.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The war in Ukraine has brutally exposed the risks of blackmail, economic coercion and price shocks. With REPowerEU, we have diversified our energy supplies and drastically reduced Europe’s former dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Now is the time for Europe to completely break its energy ties with an unreliable supplier. And the energy that comes to our continent should not pay for an aggressive war against Ukraine. We owe this to our citizens, our companies and our brave Ukrainian friends.”
The roadmap is reported to envisage “the gradual withdrawal of Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy from EU markets, which will take place in a coordinated and safe manner as the bloc’s energy transition progresses”. The measures were designed to maintain the security of energy supplies in the EU, while limiting any impact on prices and markets, the European institution said.
As of 2025, global LNG supplies are expected to grow rapidly and gas demand is expected to decline. “With full implementation of the energy transition framework and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, the EU is expected to replace up to 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2030, which means a reduction in demand of 40-50 billion cubic meters by 2027. At the same time, LNG capacity is expected to increase by approximately 200 billion cubic meters by 2028, five times more than the EU’s current imports of Russian gas,” the European Commission said.
Today’s roadmap will be followed by “legislative proposals from the European Commission next month,” as stated.
Coordinated and phased cessation of Russian energy suppliesThe European Commission will work with EU member states to ensure that the pan-European cessation of Russian energy imports is gradual and well-coordinated across the Union. They will reportedly be asked to prepare national plans by the end of this year, outlining how they will contribute to ending imports of Russian gas, nuclear energy and oil.
All measures, as noted by the European Commission, will be accompanied by ongoing efforts to accelerate the EU’s energy transition and diversify energy supplies, including through gas demand aggregation and better use of infrastructure, in order to eliminate risks to security of supply and market stability.
With regard to gas, “future proposals will improve transparency, monitoring and traceability of Russian gas in EU markets,” it said.
Importantly, new contracts with Russian gas suppliers (pipeline and LNG) will be prevented and existing spot contracts will be terminated by the end of 2025. This measure will ensure that the EU will reduce the remaining Russian gas supplies by a third by the end of this year. In addition, the European Commission will propose to end the remaining imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027
According to the roadmap, the European Commission will also “propose new actions to address the problem of Russia’s “shadow fleet” carrying oil.”
“With regard to nuclear energy, the proposals, which will be submitted next month, will include measures on Russian imports of enriched uranium, as well as restrictions on new supply contracts jointly signed by the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) for uranium, enriched uranium and other nuclear materials obtained from Russia. The European Radioisotopes Valley Initiative is also envisaged to ensure the supply of medical radioisotopes to the EU by increasing domestic production,” the European Commission said.
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