European Parliament approves Russian gas, LNG import ban by late 2027

The European Parliament on Dec. 17 approved to phase out Russian gas and LNG imports into the EU by late 2027.

Members of parliament voted to support a provisional deal struck earlier in December in trilogue negotiations with the European Council.

The parliament's vote brings the Russian gas and LNG ban to the cusp of becoming law, and the European Council is expected to vote on the deal early next year.

Member state ambassadors in the Council's Coreper I preparatory body endorsed a final text of the ban on Dec. 10, a step required ahead of full approval.

Under the proposed law, a series of staggered restrictions would be implemented.

Spot imports of Russian gas and LNG would be prohibited six weeks after the law takes effect.

Pipeline imports of Russian gas brought in under short-term contracts concluded before June 17, 2025, will be banned from June 17, 2026.

Pipeline gas imports under long-term contracts will be banned from Sept. 30, 2027, if member states are on track to meet gas storage filling targets and from Nov. 1, 2027, if they are not on track.

Russian LNG imports under short-term contracts concluded before June 17, 2025, will be banned from April 25, 2026. Imports under long-term contracts will be outlawed from Jan. 1, 2027, in line with the restrictions in the EU's 19th sanctions package approved in October.

The EU legislation would be more durable than sanctions, which require unanimous council renewal every six months.

Meanwhile, in recent weeks, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has repeatedly warned of legal action against the Russian gas and LNG ban, once it is adopted. Hungary still relies heavily on pipeline imports of Russian gas.

The parliament's co-rapporteurs for the file rejected the warnings during a press briefing after the Dec. 17 vote and stressed their confidence in the proposed regulation.

The legislation is "very strong" and "sound," Inese Vaidere, one of the rapporteurs, said.

The European Commission said Dec. 3 that it "remains committed to ensure the phaseout of all remaining oil imports from Russia by the end of 2027." The EC plans to put forward a proposal to ban Russian oil imports in early 2026.

EU energy mix

The EU's reliance on Russian gas and LNG has fallen significantly in recent years -- from 45% of total imports at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to 13% over the first half of 2025, according to the EC.

"We are going to phase out Russian fossil fuels for good and forever," EC President Ursula von der Leyen said on Dec. 17 in a speech to the parliament.

Over the first 11 months of 2025, Russian gas imports to Europe via the TurkStream pipeline -- the only remaining pipeline operating between the regions -- totaled 15.2 Bcm, according to Platts estimates. This includes flows to non-EU countries, such as Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This accounted for just over 5% of total European pipeline gas imports during the period, according to data from S&P Global CERA.

EU imports of Russian LNG have reached about 19.1 Bcm since the start of 2025, CERA data showed, approximately 14% of total EU LNG imports over the period.

EU's drive to ban Russian gas and LNG imports comes as the benchmark Dutch TTF month-ahead gas price hovers near its lowest point since early April 2024. Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the index at Eur26.795/MWh on Dec. 16, down 1.76% day over day.