EU Parliament committees seek accelerated phaseout of Russian oil, gas, LNG

The European Parliament's trade and energy committees voted Oct. 16 to accelerate the EU's proposed phaseout of Russian oil, gas, and LNG.

In a joint meeting, the Parliament's Committee on International Trade and its Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy approved a proposal to ban all Russian gas and LNG by Jan. 1, 2027, one year sooner than the Jan. 1, 2028 deadline proposed by the European Commission in June.

The committees took an even more aggressive stance on imports of Russian oil, proposing a full ban from Jan. 1, 2026. This would also cover petroleum products from other countries made using Russian oil.

Russian gas imports under long-term contracts would also face stricter restrictions under the committees' proposal, compared with the EC's proposal. Purchases linked to any such contracts concluded before June 17, 2025 and not amended from then would be prohibited from Jan. 1, 2027, whereas the EC had proposed allowing such imports to continue until Jan. 1, 2028.

The committees' position maintains the EC's proposed ban on new and short-term contracts for Russian gas and LNG from Jan. 1, 2026. It also keeps the EC's carve-out allowing gas purchases under existing short-term contracts established before June 17, 2025 to continue up to June 17, 2026.

When it comes to LNG terminal services, the committees' position aligns with the EC's proposed ban on serving customers from Russia or controlled by Russian undertakings from Jan. 1, 2026, though it also broadens this to persons or entities "under significant influence" of Russia.

However, the parliamentary bodies proposed a more aggressive ban than the EC for LNG terminal services under long-term contracts established before June 17, 2025 and not changed from then. The committees called for a ban on those services from Jan. 1, 2027, rather than the Jan. 1, 2028 date proposed by the EC.

Short-term contracts are defined in the committees' and the EC's proposals as those not exceeding one year, while long-term contracts are defined in both proposals as those greater than a year.

Next steps

The Parliamentary committees also voted Oct. 16 to enter interinstitutional negotiations on their proposal.

They will begin discussions with the European Council unless a sufficient objection is raised in the wider EU Parliament. In that case, the full Parliament would vote on the committees' proposal before entering negotiations with the Council, according to a Parliament spokesperson.