By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission is assessing whether it could legislate to forbid firms in the European Union from signing new contracts for Russian fossil fuels, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
It is also working on legal options to allow EU companies to break existing gas supply contracts with Russia without facing penalties, the senior official added.
With some member states vowing to block any EU sanctions on Russian gas, the Commission is instead looking at other tools that could hasten the end of Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. It plans to set out options for doing this in a “roadmap” due on May 6.
The Commission is looking at options – potentially including EU trade measures – that could forbid European companies from entering into new contracts for Russian fuel, said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the confidential plans that are still being developed.
The move to forbid new contracts is aimed at cutting European companies’ spot purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
While Russian pipeline gas deliveries have plunged since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU increased its imports of Russian LNG last year.
The EU still got 19% of its total gas and LNG supply from Russia in 2024.
The Commission is also assessing the possibility of providing companies with a legal basis to invoke force majeure and to exit their Russian gas contracts without paying penalties for doing so, the official said.
A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment.
The Commission has said any measures to restrict Russian energy imports must hurt Moscow more than the EU, and take into account the impact on Europe’s energy security and fuel prices.
After publishing its roadmap next month, the Commission plans to hold deliberations with EU member states and companies.
If the Commission decides to move ahead with any of the legal tools, it would then propose legislation to do this. That could require approval from the European Parliament and a reinforced majority of EU countries, depending on the type of legal tool proposed.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Gareth Jones and Richard Chang)
