Is Europe facing a complete break from Russian energy commodities?

In the wake of the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, a group of around 60 European lawmakers decided to sign an initiative calling for a complete ban on imports of Russian energy commodities into Europe. The Austrian government has also recently approved €200 million in support for the construction of a gas pipeline to import natural gas from Germany. Austria has faced a wave of criticism over the unprecedentedly high share of imported Russian gas.

A broad coalition of lawmakers in the European Parliament has called in writing on the leaders of EU institutions to introduce a ban on imports of all Russian energy commodities into Europe, whether by pipeline or by sea. In the MEPs’ view, there is no longer room for “half-measures”. The lawmakers are also calling for tougher action against the Kremlin and its energy exports.

“We call on the European Commission to initiate, and on the member states to immediately adopt, a complete ban on Russian energy commodities on the EU market,” the lawmakers say.

Most of the lawmakers who signed the letter belong to centre-right, centre-left, centrist liberal, national conservative and Green groups. The letter was initiated by Finnish lawmaker Ville Niinistö. It is addressed to the EU’s top officials and the foreign and energy ministers.

The letter says that Europe “remains the largest buyer of Russian pipeline gas and LNG”, citing research from January 2024 published by the Finnish non-profit organisation CREA. According to the research, the EU has paid more than 13 billion euros for gas imports from Russia since the 2022 ban on oil imports imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, it should be noted that revenue from imports of Russian energy commodities fell by almost half between January 2022 and this January. China remains the largest buyer of Russian energy commodities so far, particularly oil, having paid Russia nearly 8 billion EUR—four times as much as the EU. Hungary, France, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic were among the largest importers of Russian commodities.

The lawmakers add that, in view of the “incredibly callous, cynical murder of Russia’s bravest freedom fighter”, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, continuing to trade with the Kremlin is “indecent, morally wrong and strategically short-sighted”. The full text of the letter is available here.

European legislation aimed at halting imports of Russian energy commodities was informally agreed in December 2023. It mainly concerns the part covering hydrogen and decarbonised gas, which gives EU countries the power to decide how much Russian gas and LNG they import.

If the legislation enters into force, banning imports of Russian energy commodities will be a decision for individual EU member states. For now, however, it appears that countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and Austria still cannot or do not want to restrict flows of Russian gas through their territory. The law could enter into force as early as mid-2024.