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Remarks by Commissioner Jørgensen on the provisional agreement on the phasing out of Russian fossil fuels under REPowerEU

European Commission

Speech
Dec 3, 2025
Brussels

"Check against delivery"

Madame President, dear Fatih.

Today is indeed a good day for Europe, a good day for Ukraine, and a very bad day for Russia.

Today we close the taps on Russian gas.

It is a historic decision.

It is an unprecedented decision.

But it is a necessary one.

Putin has weaponised energy against us.

Putin has blackmailed Member States of the European Union.

And he has used the profits to finance a terrible war against our friends in Ukraine.

Today we say: No more! And never again!

We will never go back to our dangerous dependence on Russia. To volatile supplies and market manipulation. To energy blackmail and economic exposure.

Instead, we choose a new future, of energy security and independence for Europe. In which we harness our own clean, homegrown, and affordable energy.

This is a change that Europe is prepared for. It is a step that we are ready to make. The phaseout will be careful, gradual, and coordinated.

So, the details: six weeks after this Regulation enters into force, new short-term and long-term contracts will be prohibited.

Then, we will deal with the remaining imports under existing contracts:

• Existing long-term LNG contracts will be prohibited as of 1 January 2027, in line with the sanctions we have agreed on earlier this year.
• Existing long-term pipeline contracts will stop as of 30 September 2027.
• As regards existing short term-contracts, we stop the LNG ones in April 2026 and the pipeline ones in June 2026.

This will lead to a full phaseout of Russian gas from EU markets in Autumn 2027.

Apart from gas. We also target the remaining imports of Russian oil to the EU.

At the beginning of next year, we will table a legislative proposal to ban imports of all Russian oil.

We have to do this as soon as possible, and no later than by the end of 2027.

So, to conclude:

We choose security for our people. Stability for our economy. Independence for Europe. And, once again, we stand by Ukraine.

Fatih, thank you so much for your advice in this process. Madame President, thank you so much for your leadership.