EU Energy Chief Kadri Simson Urges Reduction of Dependency on Russian Gas

Brussels (Brussels Morning) – EU Energy Chief Kadri Simson urges the 27-nation bloc to set a timeline for ending Russian gas imports. Simson emphasizes the need for coordinated efforts and reducing dependency, noting last year’s significant import decline. 

What Measures Is Kadri Simson Urging EU Nations to Take?

The EU’s Energy Chief Kadri Simson has called on the 27 nations in the block to determine a timeline for concluding the importation of Russian natural gas. “I advised Member States not to slow down our diversification efforts and to commit to further reduce their imports of Russian gas”, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said. “We all arranged that to reach our end goal of reducing Russian energy imports to zero, we need to maintain close coordination, also at the political level.

She contended that the EU needs to agree on a timeline and an accurate roadmap, to tackle the last remaining imports, and to ensure that all Member States can make the shift together. The end of Russian gas transit via Ukraine will be a very necessary next step.

What Decline in Russian Gas Imports Did the EU Witness?

Last year Russia’s claim of EU gas imports stood at 15 percent, down from 45 percent in 2021, before the Putin administration invaded Ukraine, according to official figures. Simson restated that the EU can fulfil its gas demand for next winter and replenish its gas storage facilities in spring 2025 without using Russian pipeline gas.

What Regulatory Changes Support Halting Russian Gas Imports?

Earlier the European Council assumed a law allowing member countries to prevent the import of Russian gas into their parts under certain conditions. The decision is retained in a new regulation adopted by the European Council regarding the gas and hydrogen market in the European Union. The regulation seeks to promote lower-carbon gas fuels, diversify source countries and improve price affordability.

“The updated gas market framework gives Member States the possibility to stop or limit imports of both piped gas and LNG from Russia and Belarus, in line with the REPowerEU objectives”, the European Commission stated in a statement about the regulation regarding the gas and hydrogen market in the EU, which was passed May 21. REPowerEU summarises the 27-member bloc’s plans to achieve energy freedom from Russia, launched in reaction to the Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

How Does the EU Plan to Achieve Energy Freedom from Russia?

The official text of the regulation describes the escalation of the Russian military aggression 

against Ukraine since February 2022 has led to falling natural gas supplies from that country and the resources from natural gas sales have been utilised to finance Russia’s war at the Union’s border.

In particular, pipeline discharges of natural gas from Russia via Belarus and the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have halted and natural gas supplies through Ukraine have steadily declined, seriously jeopardizing the security of energy supply in the Union as a whole.