by marta pacheco  & Jorge Riboreiro
It’s published
•update
EU energy director Danjorgensen is confident that a contract will “quickly” to close Russian energy entering the bloc by 2027, the Danish commissioner told reporters.
This commitment comes amid the increased diplomatic coordination between Brussels and Washington in the context of negotiations that end the war in Ukraine.
Jorgensen addressed a reporter in front of the European Commission’s headquarters on Thursday after a meeting with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright. There, the duo discussed strategies to phase out Russian energy imports, particularly LNG, reducing European dependence and support.
The official encounter follows the EU-US trade agreement agreed in July, with the EU agreeing to purchase US energy products for around $250 billion a year, over three years. Also, the transatlantic contracts pressure the EU to act quickly on ending Russian energy imports, allowing BLOC to instead focus on attacking new contracts with US companies.
Shortly before the adoption of the EU-US trade agreement, the committee presented a legislative proposal to end Russia’s reliance on energy, covering gas, oil and nuclear power, which is currently in EU countries.
“We need to put more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiation table. We need more sanctions, especially considering abolition of Russian fossil fuels faster.
The purpose of this proposal is to ban new contracts as of January 2026, short-term contracts by June 2026, and long-term contracts by the end of 2027. For landlocked countries related to long-term contracts, extensions are foreseen until the end of 2027. Member states such as Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have opposed the ban due to their energy dependence on Moscow.
“We need help from American friends to be able to happen in a way that doesn’t lead to rising security in European prices and supply issues. We need to import more LNG from the US,” Jorgensen told reporters.
The EU Energy Chief recognized the diverse approaches that Washington and Brussels share about the role of renewable energy, but said the parties could have “many common things” and could work together in areas that benefit Europe.
Julian Popov, a former Environment Minister in Bulgaria and a senior fellow at strategic perspective, said the morality of the EU to do is to break down gas relations with Russia, but the decision “should not be converted into a simple exchange of US LNG.”
“LNG is a globally traded product, and Europe’s gas demand is declining. The true alternative to Russian gas lies in renewable energy and energy efficiency,” Popov said.
Is the climate at risk?
Jorgensen was asked whether the EU would allow reviews of several green laws, including EU methane regulations and carbon border adjustment mechanisms, to alleviate the United States.
“The European methane rules are rules that don’t help us both trouble or hinder the energy we want. I have very clearly told Secretary Wright that our laws are there.
Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA), a German MP who served as the leading negotiator of the European Parliament for methane law, regretted the “deplorable stance” of EU officials in connection with “US threats.”
“I am very concerned that they (the committee) are ready to abandon EU regulations in the energy sector, namely methane regulations. If a US fracking company receives exemption, all other importers will insist on the same thing and the regulations will be toothless,” Paulus told Euroneus.
Ahead of today’s talk, 14 NGOs, including Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, Clean Air Task Force (CATF), and think tank Ember, issued a joint letter on Wednesday, urging the committee to defend EU methane regulations and its import standards.
