The European Commission is ready to defend the ban on the import of Russian gas despite the legal actions of Slovakia and Hungary. EC lawyers believe in the strength of their legislation and trust the support of member states.
The European Commission (EC) is ready to defend the ban on the import of Russian natural gas under the RePowerEU regulation, despite the claims of Slovakia and Hungary. European Commission spokespersons Paula Pinhová and Anna-Kaisa Itkonenová informed about this on Tuesday at a regular briefing.
According to Itkonen, the bloc’s goal is “never to end up in a situation where any of our member states legally challenge our legislation,” but instead the EC wants to cooperate with member states. The spokeswoman subsequently acknowledged that the member states have the right to challenge this decision, but the Commission plans to defend its position.
EC defends its legislation
“We really stand behind this legislation and there is solid legal work behind it, so we are also very confident that we are in a position to defend the legislation that the member states have largely supported,” added Pinhová.
Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced the filing of a lawsuit to the Court of Justice of the European Union against the RePowerEU regulation on behalf of the Slovak Republic at a press conference on Tuesday. According to him, the Slovak Republic will object by violating the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Slovakia and Hungary are coordinating actions
“We will demand that this regulation be declared a regulation that goes against the fundamental principles on which the European Union stands,” Fico said. Hungary, which also voted against this regulation, intends to file the same lawsuit. According to the prime minister, it is not possible to file a joint lawsuit and therefore each country will file it separately. “But it is quite normal that we will coordinate the arguments and justification of these lawsuits. That is why there is already an intensive exchange of information and we will decide on the government’s course of action,” he added.
Fico repeated his position, according to which it is an ideological decision and the energy suicide of the EU. According to the regulation, supplies of Russian gas, including through pipelines and with long-term contracts, must end no later than November next year. The prime minister believes that the war in Ukraine will end by this date and the decision will be reconsidered. Due to the interruption of supplies, Slovakia is reaching the end of gas transit and, according to the Prime Minister, it is not certain whether, in the event of a lack of gas on the markets, large states will take into account the needs of smaller states “at the end of the pipe”.
