The European Commission has canceled the submission of a draft law on the European Union's complete refusal to import oil from the aggressor country of russia, which was scheduled for mid-April. It was reported by Reuters on Tuesday, March 24.
The agency writes that the draft law was originally scheduled to be presented on April 15. As follows from the updated EU legislative agenda, the European Commission will no longer present the draft law on that date.
An unnamed European official told Reuters that the draft law has not been canceled and will still be published, although not in mid-April as previously planned. He cited current geopolitical events as the reason for the postponement of the bill.
Reuters recalls that the bill will enshrine in EU law a complete ban on russian oil imports no later than the end of 2027. Earlier, the bloc has already adopted a law on the gradual abandonment of russian gas imports by the end of 2027.
The agency notes that this measure will not have a significant impact on physical oil supplies. In the last quarter of 2025, russia already accounted for only 1% of European oil imports. Imports of russian oil by the bloc began to decline significantly after russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, the European Commission wants to enshrine the complete refusal to import russian oil at the legislative level. This is done in case a potential peace agreement on the war in Ukraine is concluded and the EU lifts sanctions against russia.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on March 16, European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said, that the European Union does not intend to resume imports of russian energy carriers because of the consequences of the war against Iran.
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