No more Kremlin energy blackmail, says EU Energy Commissioner

Last week, EU energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen clarified that Europe’s energy relationship with Russia is coming to an unambiguous end. “We will stop the import of energy from Russia,” he declared at Power Summit 2025 in Brussels.

“No more will we let Russia blackmail our countries. No more will we let them weaponise their energy against us, and no more will we indirectly help fill up the war chests of the Kremlin.”

In an aggressive policy turn, the EU will ban all new gas contracts – including spot contracts – with Russia by the end of this year and will phase out remaining long-term contracts by the end of 2027. It is the boldest move the bloc has ever taken against a major trading partner, the Commissioner remarked, marking a dramatic shift from just three years ago when much of Europe’s energy system was tethered to Russian supply.

The Commissioner recalled the chaos of early 2022, at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when countries scrambled to prepare for energy shortages and recession. “We succeeded in avoiding disaster,” he said, “but it was a wake-up call”.

That wake-up call has since evolved into a strategic overhaul. While acknowledging challenges around unstable supply and high electricity prices, the Commissioner said the situation made a compelling case for accelerating Europe’s energy independence.

Since the launch of the REPower EU Plan in May 2022, the EU has dropped its share of Russian gas imports from 45% to 19%.

Regardless, in 2023, the EU hit a record high of €400bn in energy imports.

To transition away from such foreign dependence, Russia or otherwise, the Commissioner stressed that accelerating electrification and the deployment of renewables will be the cornerstones of Europe’s competitiveness and an energy efficient future.

According to the International Energy Agency, European consumers are estimated to have saved around €100bn during 2021-2023 due to generation from newly installed solar and wind capacity.

The EU energy official added that although this progress is commendable, there remains a need to “speed up processes”. He highlighted fast-tracked permitting, smarter taxation and cost-reflective tariffs as ways in which the bloc can deliver €45bn in savings this year alone — and up to €260bn annually by 2040.

“There will be no backtracking,” he said, “only fast-tracking, because unlike other crises, the energy and climate crisis won’t disappear – it will only get worse, much worse.”