EU prepares strategic dialogue to reduce costs and maintain energy supplies

The European Commission will hold a strategic dialogue with European oil refiners to reduce costs and ensure energy supplies for the European Union, especially for the defense sector.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the dialogue would be led by EU Commissioners Dan Jorgensen and Andrius Kubilius.

“The goal is to lower costs and ensure we have the supplies we need, including for defense,” von der Leyen said.

He also said the European Commission would give exporters an extra year to comply with new EU rules on methane emissions for oil, gas and coal imports.

"We will provide exporters with another year of flexibility regarding methane. This will save additional costs during this time of crisis," he said.

Von der Leyen said the European Union still plans to stop buying natural gas from Russia by the end of next year.

"Our Russian gas imports have fallen from 45 percent to 12 percent. We will reduce it to zero by the end of next year," he said.

According to him, more than 70 percent of the European Union's energy is currently produced from clean energy sources within the region, especially renewable and nuclear energy.

The European Union also plans to change energy demand patterns by establishing a working group to carry out joint procurement through a common market operator.

"We want to move from simply matching demand and supply to aggregating demand and assigning market operators to jointly procure for all of us," von der Leyen said.

He said the European Union had previously used the mechanism after gas supplies from Russia decreased.

The European Union has established methane emission requirements for imports of oil, natural gas, and coal from third countries. Starting January 1, 2027, importers must ensure their supplies comply with methane emissions monitoring, recording, and inspection requirements.

However, these provisions are currently being adjusted, including by providing more time for exporters.

On the other hand, the European Union plans to impose a complete ban on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia starting January 1, 2027 and stop imports of Russian gas via pipelines in autumn 2027.