Overview
- EU ministers adopted the regulation to ban Russian LNG by end‑2026/early‑2027 and pipeline gas by September 30, 2027, after final Council approval.
- Hungary and Slovakia voted against and plan to challenge the measure at the EU Court of Justice, while Bulgaria abstained as the law passed by qualified majority.
- The ban applies six weeks after the law enters into force, with a possible postponement of the pipeline cutoff to November 1, 2027 for storage shortfalls.
- Existing contracts face transition rules, including earlier cutoffs for short‑term deals signed before June 17, 2025—April 25, 2026 for LNG and June 17, 2026 for pipeline gas—and no new Russian gas contracts are allowed.
- Member states must file diversification plans and report remaining Russian contracts by March 1, 2026, with origin checks and penalties that include minimum fines and turnover‑based sanctions; the Commission may suspend the ban for up to four weeks in a supply emergency.