BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 8, 2025 (ENS) – The European Union will end its use of Russian energy by stopping the import of Russian gas and oil and phasing out Russian nuclear energy, while ensuring stable energy supplies and prices across the EU.
The REPowerEU Roadmap, presented today by the European Commission, paves the way to ensure the EU’s full energy independence from Russia.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the largest, deadliest war in Europe since World War II ended in 1945, in an escalation of the conflict between the two countries that started in 2014.
Despite progress achieved under the REPowerEU Plan and sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU saw a rebound in Russian gas imports in 2024. The Commission has decided that more coordinated actions are needed, as the EU’s overdependency on Russian energy imports is a security threat.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “The war in Ukraine has brutally exposed the risks of blackmail, economic coercion and price shocks. With REPowerEU, we have diversified our energy supply and drastically reduced Europe’s former dependency on Russian fossil fuels. It is now time for Europe to completely cut off its energy ties with an unreliable supplier. And energy that comes to our continent should not pay for a war of aggression against Ukraine. We owe this to our citizens, to our companies and to our brave Ukrainian friends.”
The roadmap sets out a gradual removal of Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy from the EU markets which will take place in a coordinated and secure manner as the EU advances its energy transition. The measures have been designed to preserve the security of the EU’s energy supply while limiting any impact on prices and markets.
As of 2025, the global LNG supplies are foreseen to grow rapidly, while gas demand will decrease. With the full implementation of the energy transition framework and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, the EU is expected to replace up to 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas by 2030, which means a decrease in demand by 40-50 bcm by 2027.
At the same time, LNG capacities are expected to increase by around 200 bcm by 2028 – five times more than current EU imports of Russian gas.
Today’s roadmap will be followed by legislative proposals by the European Commission next month.
The entire transformation is intended as a coordinated and stepwise phase-out of Russian energy supplies.
The Commission will work with the 27 EU Member States to ensure that the EU-wide phaseout of Russian energy imports will be gradual and well-coordinated across the Union. They will be asked to prepare national plans by the end of this year setting out how they will contribute to phasing out imports of Russian gas, nuclear energy and oil.
All the measures will be accompanied by continuous efforts to accelerate the EU energy transition and diversify energy supplies, including through the aggregation of gas demand and a better use of infrastructure, to rid the bloc of risks to the security of its energy supply and market stability.
Dan Jørgensen, EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, said, “Today the EU shows strength and resolution. The message to Russia is clear: ‘No more shall you blackmail our Member States. No more shall Euros go into your war chest. Your gas will be banned. Your shadow fleet will be stopped.’ We do this to preserve our security. But it is also an important step towards becoming energy independent. Producing our own clean affordable energy instead of importing expensive fossils fuels.”
As for gas, the upcoming proposals will improve the transparency, monitoring and traceability of Russian gas across EU markets.
New contracts with suppliers of Russian gas – both pipeline and LNG – will be prevented, and existing spot contracts will be stopped by the end of 2025. This measure will ensure that by the end of this year, the EU will have slashed by one-third the remaining supplies of Russian gas. The Commission will propose to stop all remaining imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027.
Under the Roadmap, the Commission will put forward new actions to address Russia’s shadow fleet transporting oil.
As regards nuclear power, the proposals coming next month will include measures on Russian imports of enriched uranium, as well as restrictions on new supply contracts co-signed by the Euratom Supply Agency for uranium, enriched uranium and other nuclear materials deriving from Russia.
A European Radioisotopes Valley Initiative is also envisaged to secure EU supply of medical radioisotopes through increased EU production.
The REPowerEU Roadmap builds on the EU’s immediate response to tackle the consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the REPowerEU Plan, introduced in May 2022. The Plan sealed the EU’s determination to wean off Russian energy while accelerating the rollout of renewable energy and improving energy savings and energy efficiency.
Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, said, ” There have always been good reasons to accelerate energy transition towards efficient and renewable energy solutions. Putin’s weaponisation of energy reinforces the need to accelerate energy transition, diversify the supply and bet on our own capacities to ensure secure energy supplies and stable prices. This is crucial for our industrial competitiveness and for the well-being of our citizens.”
Measures taken so far have reduced the volumes of imported Russian gas from 150 bcm in 2021 to 52 bcm in 2024 – with the share of Russian gas imports dropping from 45 percent to 19 percent. All imports of Russian coal have been banned by sanctions; oil imports have shrunk from 27 percent at the beginning of 2022 to three percent now. In nuclear, Member States that are still using Russian-designed VVER reactors have made progress in replacing Russian nuclear fuel with fuel from other producers.
By phasing out Russian energy, the REPowerEU Roadmap will reduce the security risks the European Union is facing. It will also contribute to the economic plan set out by the Competitiveness Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal and the Affordable Energy Action Plan which underlined how a cleaner and independent energy system help boost the economy while making a massive contribution to Europe’s decarbonization ambitions.
To speed up the buildout of renewable energy in the North Sea, Denmark will host Heads of States from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen for the North Sea Summit on May 18 in Esbjerg, Denmark.
This summit will focus on the central role offshore wind in phasing out fossil fuels in the EU, and how the North Sea can become a green powerhouse for the entire continent.
At the summit, the heads of state and the Commission President will adopt a common vision for deploying offshore wind and related infrastructure in the North Sea. The EU’s energy commissioner and ministers for climate and energy from the respective member states will meet in Esbjerg on the same day with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation.
”The EU must become independent from Russian fossil fuels as fast as possible. The best way forward is for the European countries to work together to scale up and speed up the buildout of renewable energy in the North Sea,” Jørgensen said. “At the summit, we will present some of the key solutions needed for Europe to make the ambitious transition to renewables, and that is why I am looking very much forward to welcoming my fellow energy ministers in Esbjerg.”
Featured image: Wind turbines churn the air over the North Sea, 2011 (Photo by Bob Banta courtesy NOAA)
