Today is a historic day for the EU – we are completely abandoning Russian energy – von der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that the European Union has reached a decision on complete independence from Russian energy sources.
"Today is a truly historic day for our Union. Last night we reached a preliminary agreement on the Commission's proposal to completely abandon Russian fossil fuels. We are turning this page, and we are turning it over forever. This is the dawn of a new era, an era of complete energy independence for Europe from Russia," she said in Brussels on Wednesday.
Von der Leyen stressed that many believed it would be impossible. "Well, the numbers speak for themselves, and let me give you some of them. Today, Russian gas imports, i.e. LNG and pipeline, have fallen from 45 percent at the beginning of the war to 13 percent. Coal imports have fallen from 51 percent at the beginning of the war to zero. And crude oil imports have fallen from 26 percent to 2 percent today. I always knew that we could succeed with unity, determination and building on the extraordinary work of the last three years," she said, adding that under the RePower EU plan, the EU has overcome "the worst energy crisis in decades."
"Together, we have saved energy while ensuring full energy security. We have diversified our suppliers to become reliable partners, signed new partnership agreements, and invested in renewables and nuclear power at an unprecedented pace. Today, half of our electricity comes from renewable sources, and if you look at low-carbon energy, that is, nuclear and renewables, it is 74 percent. And this is just the beginning," von der Leyen said.
Another important point, the President of the European Commission called the fact that "when we significantly reduced fossil fuel imports to Russia, we also reduced the revenues that Russia uses to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine." "At the beginning of the war for fossil fuels, we paid Russia EUR 12 billion a month. Now we pay Russia EUR 1.5 billion a month, which is still too much. We are striving to reduce this to zero," she said.
Von der Leyen also pointed out that "as part of its aggression, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure." "Winter after winter, Europe has helped keep the lights on in Ukraine... We will do it again this year. We will help repair the damage caused by Russian strikes. We have already provided more than 16,000 generators and transformers. And we are stabilizing Ukraine's energy grid by exporting more than 2 gigawatts of electricity from our Union to Ukraine. We will continue to support urgent needs and help build a more resilient Ukrainian energy system for the long term. In conclusion, this is a good day for Europe and for our independence from Russian fossil fuels, because this is a good day," von der Leyen concluded. European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen announced that in six weeks, new short-term and long-term contracts will be banned. "We will then consider the remaining imports under existing contracts. Existing long-term LNG contracts will be banned from 1 January 2027 in line with the sanctions we agreed earlier this year. Existing long-term pipeline contracts will end on 30 December 2027. As for existing short-term contracts, we will end LNG contracts in April 2026 and pipeline contracts in June 2026. This will lead to a complete withdrawal of Russian gas from EU markets in autumn 2027," he detailed.
Regarding imports of Russian oil into the EU, the European Commissioner announced that a legislative proposal to ban imports of all Russian oil will be presented early next year. "We need to do this as soon as possible, but no later than the end of 2027. So, in conclusion, we choose security for our people, stability for our economy, independence for Europe, and once again we support Ukraine," Jorgensen said.
