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EU to propose legal measures to ban Russian gas on Tuesday

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Aim is to completely halt Russian imports by end-2027

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Proposals need support from reinforced majority of EU

countries

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Some concerned about legal risk for importing companies

By Kate Abnett

LUXEMBOURG, June 17 (Reuters) - The European Commission

is set to propose on Tuesday a ban on EU imports of Russian gas

and liquefied natural gas by the end of 2027, using legal

measures to ensure the plan cannot be blocked by EU members

Hungary and Slovakia.

The proposals will set out how the European Union plans to

fix into law its vow to end decades-old energy relations with

Europe's former top gas supplier Russia, made after Moscow's

2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

An internal Commission summary of the upcoming proposal,

seen by Reuters, said it would fix into law a ban on imports of

Russian pipeline gas and LNG from January 1, 2026, with longer

deadlines for certain contracts.

Short-term Russian gas deals signed before June 17, 2025

would have a one-year transition period, to June 17, 2026, it

said.

Imports under existing long-term Russian contracts would

then be banned from January 1, 2028 - effectively ending the

EU's use of Russian gas by this date, the summary said.

Companies including TotalEnergies and Spain's

Naturgy have Russian LNG contracts extending into the

2030s.

EU LNG terminals would also be gradually banned from

providing services to Russian customers, and companies importing

Russian gas would have to disclose information on their

contracts to EU and national authorities, Reuters previously

reported.

The plans could still change before they are published.

EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Monday the

measures were designed to be legally strong enough for companies

to invoke the contractual clause of "force majeure" - an

unforeseeable event - to break their Russian gas contracts.

"Since this will be a prohibition, a ban, the companies will

not get into legal problems. This is force majeure, as it [would

be] if it had been a sanction," Jorgensen told reporters.

NO VETO

Slovakia and Hungary, which have sought to maintain close

political ties to Russia, still import Russian gas via pipeline

and say switching to alternatives would increase energy prices.

They have vowed to block sanctions on Russian energy, which

require unanimous approval from all EU countries, and have

opposed the ban.

To get around this, the Commission's proposals will use an

EU legal basis that can be passed with support from a reinforced

majority of countries and a majority of the European Parliament,

EU officials said.

While most other EU countries have signalled support for the

ban, officials said some importing countries have raised

concerns about the risk to companies of financial penalties or

arbitration for breaking contracts.

Around 19% of Europe's gas still comes from Russia, via the

TurkStream pipeline and LNG shipments - down from roughly 45%

before 2022. Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain are

among those that import Russian LNG.

"We fully support this plan in principle, with the aim of

ensuring that we find the right solutions to provide maximum

security for businesses," French industry minister Marc Ferracci

told reporters on Monday.