EU sets 2027 as deadline to phase out all Russian energy, including LNG

The most bulletproof method to invoke force majeure and defy lawsuits at court would be the approval of sanctions at the EU level, says Elisabetta Cornago, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), who admitted the positions by Hungary and Slovakia make it virtually impossible.

"This new roadmap the Commission is putting forward today acknowledges that difficulty but tries to find new pathways to technically deliver a phase-out of Russian fossil fuel imports, such as providing paths out of contracts to European companies," Cornago told Euronews.

"That is not without risks, as costly arbitration could follow for such companies, but it is a way forward and a way to signal that the EU is (finally) getting serious about phasing out all Russian fossil fuel imports."