EU States Allowed to Ban Russian Gas

The European Union now allows member countries to stop the import of natural gas produced in Russia into their territories under certain conditions, the European Commission said.

The decision is contained in a new regulation adopted Tuesday by the European Council concerning the gas and hydrogen market in the European Union. The regulation aims to promote lower-carbon gas fuels, diversify source countries and improve price affordability.

“The updated gas market framework gives Member States the possibility to stop or limit imports of both piped gas and LNG from Russia and Belarus, in line with the REPowerEU objectives”, the Commission said in a statement. REPowerEU outlines the 27-member bloc’s plans to achieve energy independence from Russia, launched in response to the Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine February that year.

The official text of the regulation explains, “The escalation of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine since February 2022 has led to declining natural gas supplies from that country, and the resources from natural gas sales have been used to finance Russia’s war at the Union’s border”.

“In particular, pipeline flows of natural gas from Russia through Belarus and the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have stopped and natural gas supplies through Ukraine have steadily decreased, seriously jeopardizing the security of energy supply in the Union as a whole.

“Those weaponized reductions of natural gas supplies and manipulation of the markets through intentional disruptions of natural gas flows have laid bare vulnerabilities and dependencies in the Union and its Member States with the clear potential of a direct and serious impact on their essential international security interests.

“Past evidence has also shown that natural gas may be used to weaponize and manipulate energy markets, for instance by hoarding capacities in natural gas infrastructure, to the detriment of the Union’s essential international security interests.

“In order to mitigate the impact of such events, both in the current context and for the future, Member States should exceptionally be able to take proportionate measures to limit temporarily up-front bidding for capacity by any single network user at entry points and at LNG terminals for deliveries from the Russian Federation and Belarus, where necessary to protect their essential security interests and those of the Union, taking into account also the need to ensure security of supply in the Union.

“It should be possible for such temporary measures to be renewed where justified”.

EU member nations must first consult the Commission before imposing any restrictions on Russian gas to ensure such actions do not undermine supply and breach obligations to third countries, according to the regulation.

The regulation takes effect after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It was proposed 2021 by the Commission as part of the European Green Deal. The Green Deal, which was adopted 2020 by the European Parliament, sets strategies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 2050.

The broader goal of the regulation however is to grow the market for alternative gas including renewable gas and hydrogen while ensuring gas fuel affordability.

“The new framework for the gas market will facilitate the uptake of renewable and low-carbon gases while ensuring security and affordability of energy for all European citizens”, the Commission statement said.

“In particular, the reforms will lead to the creation of a market for hydrogen, which will be key to curb emissions in hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industries and transport”, the Commission added. “The Commission will also pilot a five-year project to bring together demand and supply of hydrogen to enhance market development and transparency under the European Hydrogen Bank”.

The Commission had already made the first funding awards under the European Hydrogen Bank, which aims to scale up hydrogen production. Seven projects across Finland, Norway, Portugal and Spain were to receive a total of EUR 720 million ($782 million), according to a Commission press release April 30, 2024.

For consumers, the new regulation provides for easier switching of suppliers, as well as better access to new smart technologies, the Commission said.

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