Energy law and policy of the European Union after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the role of natural gas

The EU is accelerating decarbonisation, but natural gas has still a role to play, as a backup for renewables. This article focuses on measures adopted by the EU to curb the use of natural gas and limit imports of Russian gas since 2022, with the adoption of the REPowerEU plan, the last of a number of EU policy milestones directed towards accelerating decarbonisation, but the first one in which that goal is to be achieved under the pressure of phasing out Russian gas. The article analyses the inconsistency of increasing imports of Russian liquified natural gas, and measures adopted against it.