Russian gas and oil import ban: MEPs ready to negotiate with Council
The draft legislation seeks to protect the Union’s interests from the weaponisation of energy supplies by the Russian Federation.
On Wednesday, Parliament backed the decision to start talks with the Danish presidency of the Council on a ban on Russian gas and oil imports, as proposed by the Committees on International Trade and on Industry, Research and Energy when they adopted their position on the file on 16 October.
Next steps
Parliament and Council negotiators will now begin discussions with the aim of reaching an agreement at first reading, as EU ministers adopted their joint position on Monday.
Background
This legislation comes in response to Russia’s systematic weaponisation of energy supplies, a pattern documented over nearly two decades and one that escalated after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The military invasion came with further deliberate market manipulation, including Gazprom’s unprecedented underfilling of EU storage facilities and abrupt halts to pipelines, causing energy prices to spike to up to eight times their pre-crisis levels.
Contacts:
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Baptiste CHATAIN
Press Officer (FR)