Draft legislation approved by two European Parliament committees aims to ban imports of Russian natural gas and oil to the European Union starting January 1, 2026. The Committees on Industry, Research and Energy and on International Trade adopted the plans on Thursday, with limited exceptions for existing contracts. Short-term contracts will be allowed until June 17, 2026, and long-term contracts until January 1, 2027, provided they were signed before June 17, 2025, and remain unchanged.
The proposed rules would allow energy operators to invoke “force majeure” to end Russian gas import contracts, citing the new regulation as a sovereign act beyond their control. The legislation would also ban temporary storage of Russian-origin natural gas in EU facilities from the same date. To prevent circumvention, operators would need to provide more detailed evidence of the gas’s country of production and obtain prior authorisation based on the origin.
The draft legislation also includes a ban on imports of Russian oil and petroleum products from Russian crude oil starting in 2026. It requires prior customs authorisation and verification of the country of production for such imports. The text targets circumvention risks such as re-labelled imports, shadow fleets, and transit via third countries by requiring origin certification for oil pipelines, quarterly audits, and a list of high-risk LNG terminals managed by the European Commission.
Additionally, the review clause that would have allowed the Commission to temporarily suspend the import ban in cases threatening EU energy security has been removed. Penalties for violations of the regulation have been introduced to strengthen enforcement.
Ville Niinistö, lead MEP for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE), said: “The vast majority of the members of the two committees have voted for a strong position to strengthen the exit from Russian fossil fuel imports. I am impressed by the shared understanding of the need for effective legislation that is not just banning imports of Russian gas and oil to the European Union but is also stringent in enforcement and closes the loopholes of the Commission’s proposal.”
Inese Vaidere, lead MEP for the International Trade Committee, stated: “The almost unanimous support gives me a strong mandate for negotiations with the Council. The ban of Russian fossil fuels is a great achievement for the European Union and a turning point in European energy policy. We have strengthened the European Commission’s initial proposal by including oil and its products, ending long-term contracts a year earlier than proposed, adding penalties for non-compliance, and deleting exceptions for landlocked countries.”
The legislation passed with 83 votes in favour, 9 against, and 1 abstention. The decision to open negotiations with the Danish Presidency of the Council was supported by 84 votes to 7, with 1 abstention. The Parliament’s plenary will be informed of this decision during its session from October 20 to 24.
This legislative move follows years of concerns about Russia’s use of energy supplies as a political tool. The issue escalated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which was accompanied by actions such as Gazprom’s reduction of EU storage levels and pipeline disruptions that led to significant energy price increases.
