Overview
- COREPER I approved the final compromise text of the RePowerEU Regulation to phase out Russian gas purchases, with two member states dissenting.
- The Regulation takes legal effect the day after its publication in the Official Journal, and the import ban starts six weeks after publication.
- The plan sets staggered cut-offs: LNG ends for short-term contracts by 25 April 2026 and for long-term by 1 January 2027.
- Pipeline gas is barred for short-term contracts from 17 June 2026 and for long-term by 30 September 2027, or 1 November 2027 if storage targets are missed.
- The deal includes anti-circumvention and enforcement measures, and supporters frame it as curbing Russian revenues as the Kremlin warns of economic harm to Europe.