Subject matter
This Regulation provides a framework for eliminating the Union’s remaining exposure to the significant risks for trade and security of supply resulting from trade in natural gas with the Russian Federation and for preparing the effective and timely phase-out of oil imports from the Russian Federation by laying down:
(a)
a stepwise prohibition on imports of natural gas from the Russian Federation;
(b)
rules to implement and monitor that prohibition as well as the phase-out of oil imports from the Russian Federation; and
(c)
provisions to better assess the security of energy supplies in the Union.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1)
‘natural gas’ means gas as referred to in Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes 2711 11 00 and 2711 21 00;
(2)
‘LNG’ means liquefied natural gas as referred to in CN code 2711 11 00;
(3)
‘natural gas in gaseous state’ means natural gas as referred to in CN code 2711 21 00;
(4)
‘mixtures’ means mixtures of LNG volumes from different countries of origin;
(5)
‘long-term supply contract’ means a contract for the supply of natural gas, excluding natural gas derivatives, the term of which exceeds one year;
(6)
‘short-term supply contract’ means a contract for the supply of natural gas, excluding natural gas derivatives, the term of which does not exceed one year;
(7)
‘landlocked country’ means a country that is entirely surrounded by land and has no direct access to the sea;
(8)
‘import’ means the placing of goods under release for free circulation, within the meaning of Article 201 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) (the ‘Union Customs Code’);
(9)
‘importer’ means the natural or legal person that is the declarant as defined in Article 5, point (15), of the Union Customs Code in the relevant customs declaration, or a natural or legal person, including affiliated undertakings, that brings goods into the customs territory of the Union or otherwise places goods on the Union market;
(10)
‘affiliated undertakings’ mean affiliated undertakings as defined in Article 2, point (12), of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 10 ) ;
(11)
‘customs authority’ means customs authorities as defined in Article 5, point (1), of the Union Customs Code;
(12)
‘authorising authority’ means the authority which is competent to examine the authorisation requests made pursuant to Article 5;
(13)
‘competent authority’ means a competent authority as defined in Article 2, point (7), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938;
(14)
‘regulatory authority’ means a regulatory authority designated pursuant to Article 76(1) of Directive (EU) 2024/1788 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 11 ) ;
(15)
‘control’ means control as defined in Article 2, point (55), of Directive (EU) 2024/1788;
(16)
‘interconnection point’ means an interconnection point as defined in Article 2, point (63), of Directive (EU) 2024/1788;
(17)
‘interconnector’ means an interconnector as defined in Article 2, point (39), of Directive (EU) 2024/1788;
(18)
‘entry point’ means an entry point as defined in Article 2, point (61), of Directive (EU) 2024/1788;
(19)
‘exit point’ means an exit point as defined in Article 2, point (62), of Directive (EU) 2024/1788;
(20)
‘delivery point’ means the physical or virtual location specified in a gas supply contract at which natural gas is to be delivered by a seller and received by a buyer;
(21)
‘contracted quantities’ means the quantities of natural gas that a buyer is obligated to purchase and a seller is obligated to provide, as specified in the original supply contract, but excluding quantities arising from contractual provisions providing for quantity changes to baseline quantities, such as round-up quantities, fractional quantities, upward quantities or other volumetric modifications under the terms of the contract except for paid make-up quantities paid before 17 June 2025;
(22)
‘round-up quantities’ means quantities of natural gas added to the annual contracted quantity in a given year in order to provide for the last cargo to be rounded-up to a whole cargo;
(23)
‘fractional quantities’ means quantities of natural gas carried forward to subsequent contract years where the quantity delivered during a year is either more or less than the adjusted annual contracted quantity after adjustments; such quantities can be either positive or negative;
(24)
‘upward quantities’ means quantities of natural gas to be added optionally to the annual contracted quantity based on supply contracts, at the discretion of a party to a supply contract;
(25)
‘paid make-up quantities’ means the quantities of natural gas which a buyer is entitled or obligated to take delivery of and pay for in subsequent periods, in compliance with minimum take-or-pay requirements and in order to compensate for any shortfall in the quantities contracted but not taken in prior periods, as provided for in a long-term supply contract;
(26)
‘delivery schedule’ means the timetable or plan agreed between the parties to a gas supply contract, specifying the quantities of natural gas to be delivered by a seller and received by a buyer over defined time intervals, including the timing, location and conditions of delivery, as set out in a supply contract or any related operational procedures;
(27)
‘nomination’ means a nomination as defined in Article 2, point (8), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 12 ) ;
(28)
‘oil’ means crude oil, natural gas condensates, refinery feedstocks, additives and oxygenates, and other hydrocarbons and oil products falling under CN codes 2709 and 2710;
(29)
‘country of production’ means the country where the natural gas is extracted, regardless of whether that natural gas has been subsequently liquified or regasified in another country; where natural gas extracted in countries other than the Russian Federation is liquified or regasified in the Russian Federation, the Russian Federation shall be considered to be the country of production.
