OddsFrontEU auditors say the REPowerEU drive has stalled despite reduced Russian gas imports
A new European Court of Auditors assessment finds that weak grids, limited national commitments and an investment shortfall threaten the bloc’s attempt to turn emergency diversification into durable energy independence.
Auditors challenge the headline progress
The European Court of Auditors issued a critical assessment of REPowerEU on September 9, concluding that the European Union’s flagship response to dependence on Russian fossil fuels is not delivering its intended transformation quickly enough. Russian gas imports have fallen sharply since the plan was launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the auditors cautioned that mild winters, high prices and reduced household and industrial demand also contributed. That distinction matters because lower imports do not by themselves demonstrate that Europe has built a resilient replacement system.
Euronews reported that EU gas imports from Russia fell from 152 billion cubic metres in 2021 to 36 billion cubic metres in 2025, reducing Russia’s share from 45 percent to 12 percent. The European Commission regards those figures as evidence that REPowerEU played a pivotal role. The auditors’ concern is narrower but consequential: the programme has not yet created enough domestic clean generation, cross-border connections or grid capacity to guarantee that reduced Russian supply becomes permanent energy security.
Investment and infrastructure lag behind ambition
The audit found that member states had committed €54.3 billion from roughly €300 billion in additional recovery-fund financing made available for the programme. National energy and climate plans often contained few specific REPowerEU measures or targets. The auditors also described renewable capacity directly attributable to the programme as negligible compared with its 103-gigawatt objective, even though the EU added more than 200 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity through all channels between 2022 and 2024.
Grid constraints are the central strategic weakness. New renewable projects cannot strengthen energy sovereignty if congested domestic networks and insufficient links between countries prevent electricity from reaching consumers. Spain and Portugal have repeatedly highlighted weak interconnection with the rest of Europe, while Germany remains a focal point of the bloc’s post-Russian-gas adjustment. Without faster construction, Europe could exchange dependence on Russian fuels for reliance on imported equipment or other concentrated suppliers.
The next test moves to EU lawmakers
The immediate question is how governments respond while the final Russian-fuel phase-out approaches. Euronews reported that the prohibition on Russian liquefied natural gas is due to take effect on January 1, 2027, followed by pipeline gas in September 2027. Negotiations over the future of Europe’s power grids are expected to intensify before the end of 2026. The audit gives lawmakers a measurable test: convert available financing into grids, interconnectors and generation before legal deadlines expose remaining gaps.