Opening statement of Commissioner Jørgensen in the European Parliament Plenary debate on Accelerating the phase-out of Russian gas and other Russian energy commodities in the EU
“Check against delivery”
Thank you President, Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
It’s been three years since Ukraine was hit in the most atrocious way by Russia’s unjustified aggressions, they are still ongoing. Three years where our continent has witnessed what we had believed was unthinkable.
Meanwhile, the geopolitical context has changed even more, and we are all aware that energy is in the heart of geopolitics at the moment.
It is not a sustainable situation that can be justified over time for our continent to rely on energy imports as heavily as we do. We need a strategy to eliminate the imports of all fossil fuels, whatever their origin. It will make us safer and more resilient.
Our historic reliance on Russian imports left the EU exposed to the weaponisation of energy and consequent supply risks, enabling Russia to influence prices and harm our economy.
As seen in the past, this behaviour has far-reaching consequences for Europe, sparking market volatility and threatening the stability of the EU’s energy market.
In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 and in line with the Versailles Declaration of Heads of State and Government, the Commission launched the REPowerEU Plan in May 2022.
The plan called for ending Europe’s dependency on Russian energy by enhancing energy efficiency and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and diversifying supply.
Since the start of the unjustified war of aggression of Russia in Ukraine, the EU has also adopted 16 sanction packages, including a ban on Russian coal and oil imports, and prohibited the reloading of Russian liquefied natural gas cargoes in EU ports.
EU sanctions also target Russian oil imports, and significant progress has been made in this area. Russian oil now accounts for only 3% of the EU’s total oil imports, a notable decrease from the pre-war level of 25%.
Furthermore, as a result of the coordinated action between the Commission and Member States, and the enhanced EU energy diplomacy with its international partners, gas imports –both LNG and pipeline– from Russia have already decreased, from 45% in 2021 to 19% in 2024 and has been replaced by domestically produced renewable energy and supplies from more renewable sources.
On top, the continuous implementation of the energy transition and the effects of the recently adopted Affordable Energy Action Plan, are expected to have significant impacts and reduce gas imports even further.
A great achievement was also recently shown when the synchronisation of the Baltic States to the continental European electricity grid, on the 9th of February was celebrated. This means that they are now fully independent from Russia’s and Belarus’s electricity systems. And it shows that together we can achieve historical changes.
Similarly, due to the work with Member States we have ensured that security of supply would not be affected with the end of the Russian gas transit agreement through Ukraine in December 2024.
Last, on nuclear, the Commission has called to accelerate the efforts for the diversification, in line with the REPowerEU plan.
We are also working with Member States and progress has already been made. To date, 4 out of the 5 Member States operating Russian designed reactors (VVER) have supply contracts in place with alternative suppliers of nuclear fuel.
But we need to continue our diversification and further strengthen EU capacities and cooperation with like-minded countries.
Honourable Members,
Our progress under REPowerEU has been substantial, but we must continue to work together to address the remaining imports while not creating new import dependencies. And I am strongly committed to this.
The energy transition, through clean energy sources, energy efficiency, domestically produced renewable gases such as biogas, and electrification reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.
It is imperative that we stop paying Russia for its energy exports which are financing its unjustified war against Ukraine.
We continue working intensively to phase out remaining Russian energy imports dependency, building on REPowerEU’s progress.
We are and will continue working closely with Member States to identify remaining challenges, to address them, and to put forward robust European solutions to protect our companies from paying contractual penalties to Russia.
The position of the European Parliament is also well heard.
I can assure you that work on the Roadmap to phase-out Russian energy imports is ongoing.
I am sure that a coordinated European approach will ensure that we can effectively address the threat of Russia’s weaponisation of energy and build a more resilient, decarbonised and diversified energy market.
Dear members of Parliament, I know most of you agree with me on these core principles.
We shall stay united and defend our core values.
I now look forward to this important debate and your ideas on how we can best join our efforts.
Thank you!
Source – EU Commission