EU leaders look to phase out Russian gas, oil

VERSAILLES, France — European Union leaders on Friday agreed to phase out dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports “as soon as possible” and decided to draw up a plan soon to support the continent’s economies as they face skyrocketing energy prices amid a crisis aggravated by the war in Ukraine.

Heads of state and government, who gathered at the Versailles palace, west of Paris, said in a statement that the strategy will involve accelerating the reduction of an overall reliance on fossil fuels, diversifying supplies and routes for gas and oil, and speeding up the development of renewable energy. They asked the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, to make proposals by the end of May.

The commission offered suggestions this week to reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two-thirds before the end of the year and phase out its reliance on Russian energy by 2027. Its president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that increased supplies of liquefied natural gas delivered by ship will mean the EU is able “to replace quite a part of the Russian gas.”

She also encouraged Europeans to move toward energy savings. “Reducing the energy consumption … by 450 million Europeans makes a big chunk,” she said.

Leaders said they will make decisions about how to support people’s purchasing power and companies’ competitiveness at the next EU summit in Brussels at the end of the month.

Europe was already facing a tricky test before Russia’s invasion because of an outlook for slowing economic growth accompanied by surging inflation, which is being driven by high energy prices.

The commission predicted last month that the bloc’s economic growth would slow from 5.3 percent last year to 4 percent this year and 2.8 percent in 2023.

Since the invasion and intensifying sanctions against Moscow, European officials have signaled those numbers are now too optimistic and will be lowered in the next set of economic forecasts scheduled for May.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, is pushing for “joint European investments” modeled after the 750 billion-euro ($827 billion) recovery plan approved last year to help European economies through the COVID-19 pandemic.