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Brussels explores the legal options that would allow European companies to break Russian gas contracts in the long term without paying heavy penalties in Moscow.
The European Commission has studied contracts and the possibility of declaring force majeure, which would allow importers to leave their obligations without paying additional costs, according to three managers knowing the plan.
“If all the idea does not pay Russia, then [paying compensation] Would undermine the whole goal, ”said an EU official.
This decision highlights EU’s struggle to wear from Russian energy and to deprive the Kremlin of income for its war in Ukraine. Moscow gas now only represents 11% of block supplies via a pipeline, compared to almost two fifths in 2022, but volumes of Russian liquefied natural gas have increased rapidly over the past three years.
Lawyers of the Commission explore legal options as part of a roadmap on how the block will get rid of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. The plan arrives at a critical moment for the Ue Because he also tries to present an energy agreement in the United States to counter President Donald Trump’s pricing regime.
The committee refused to comment.
The United States is already the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas in the block and is considered an obvious replacement for any new reduction in Russian fuel.
The EU paid 21.9 billion euros to Russia for oil and gas between February 2024 and February 2025, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Unlike Russian coal, gas has not been the subject of an import ban, while the EU has prohibited 90% of Moscow oil imports. Imports of gases shipped from the country have increased by around 60% in the past three years, but total Russian gas exports to the block are still the lowest since 2022.
The roadmap – originally intended to be published in March – was partly delayed because of the concerns that any ensuing legislation is blocked by Hungary and Slovakia, which now explain most of the remaining pipes that still flow in the EU.
The pro-Russian government of Hungary has threatened to reject gas sanctions, which require unanimous approval from the 27 EU member states.
The roadmap has also been postponed due to early discussions on the future of the northern flow Pipeline connecting Germany and Russia, which have been relaunched in the middle of American efforts to find a rapprochement to end the Ukraine War, and the inclusion of gas purchases in commercial negotiations with the Trump administration.
“It’s a mess,” said an EU diplomat. “How do the United States integrate into all of this?” How do we diversify? “
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, however told Financial Times that the plan should be published in “three to four weeks”.
Despite Brussels’s pressure, EU nations are wary of forcing companies to reduce LNG contracts with Russia in fears of increasing prices when companies are struggling with geopolitical disorders and high costs.
The Commission gave Powers of Member States To prevent Russian and Belarusian operators from connecting LNG to port infrastructure or sending their gas through EU pipes, but the ministers have complained that this does not give them sufficient legal means to force companies to break their contracts.
The complexity of the lawyers of the Commission is that contracts are secret and tend to postpone. The use of war in Ukraine to call force majeure may not be legally sufficient, said an EU official.
The ports of France, Spain and Belgium are the main import centers for Russian LNG. The Moscow LNG Yamal factory still has contracts with some of the largest EU energy companies, including Shell and Naturgy.
Bruegel, the Brussels based reflection group, has argued this month in favor of prices rather than a complete ban on imports of Russian gas, noting that the first would generate income for the EU and would force Russian suppliers to reduce prices to remain competitive. Unlike sanctions, prices only require the majority of EU member states to support them in order to be approved.
“An effective common tool on Russian gas imports is necessary urgently – because otherwise Russia could again use (the perspective) of selective gas supplies to fuel deep discord among the Member States,” they wrote.
