EU Fails to Meet Energy Independence Plan
The European Union is falling behind on its plan to phase out Russian oil and gas.
Consensus
- The EU has not met its REPowerEU targets for reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas.
- Four years after the launch of REPowerEU, progress has stalled despite hundreds of billions in funding.
- Only 54.3 billion euros of the 300 billion euros allocated for REPowerEU projects have been spent.
- The EU's reliance on Russian energy has decreased since 2021, but this was due to factors other than REPowerEU, such as mild winters and high prices.
- The European Court of Auditors (ECA) issued a report criticizing the slow implementation of the REPowerEU program.
- Many EU member states have not submitted detailed national energy and climate plans with specific measures and targets.
- The full ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into the EU is set to take effect in January 2027.
Points of divergence
- Belgium increased its Russian gas imports from 2.4 billion cubic meters in 2021 to 3.4 billion in 2024, with a peak of 4 billion in 2023, and was fully dependent on Russian LNG in July 2026 due to disruptions caused by the Iran conflict. — meduza
- The EU's renewable energy expansion under REPowerEU has been minimal, with actual solar and wind capacity additions significantly below the projected 103 GW by 2030. — vesti
- The reduction in Russian gas imports was not primarily due to REPowerEU but due to mild winters and high prices reducing consumption. — meduza
- The ECA report was released amid rising gas prices and concerns over insufficient storage levels ahead of winter. — vesti
Coverage (3 sources)
- Economist Koltashov called EU's refusal of gas economic suicide — РИАМО
- European Union lags behind plan to abandon Russian oil and gas — Meduza
- In the European Union, the failure of the plan to abandon Russian energy resources was recognized — Вести