The EU wants to reduce Russian gas imports by 30% this year, and break its relationship with Russia in 2030

The European Commission presented this Tuesday a proposal to cut Russian gas imports by two thirds annually and achieve the goal of cut dependency of the Community market for Russian fossil fuels in 2030as a response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

To achieve this objective, the Community Executive has proposed a roadmap that includes the diversification of supply for avoid those providers that may contribute to instability in the market such as Gazpromcoordination between Member States so that gas reserves are at 90% in October of each year, accelerate the adoption of renewable fuels to replace gas and reduce the impact of high energy prices on consumers, within the framework of the plan named REPowerEU.

The proposal shows that, between January and February, the EU has guaranteed gas supply for this winter and puts on the table that it can import 500,000 million cubic meters more of liquefied natural gas from suppliers such as Qatar, United States, Egypt or East Africaannually.

The diversification of suppliers could also be carried out through the gas pipelines of Azerbaijan, Algeria or Norwaywhich could supply an additional 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

In addition, the Community Executive will continue in talks with the main world gas buyers, such as Japan, South Korea, China or India to analyze the market situation in the medium term.

In one more step, Brussels will analyze the necessary investments to develop infrastructures that reduce dependence on gas and increase the share of hydrogen and biomethane, while reducing the use of fossil fuels.

The proposal is part of the European Commission’s plan to eliminate the community’s dependency on Moscow until 2030, at the rate of reducing gas consumption by 30% annually. The figure is equivalent to 100,000 million cubic meters of this fossil fuel, considering that, in 2021, Russian gas imports were 155,000 million cubic meters.