EU energy chief's ITER visit highlights the project's continuing Russia exception

A sanctioned state remains inside ITER

European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen visited the ITER nuclear-fusion construction site in Cadarache, France, on September 7 and called the experiment important to Europe's decarbonisation and energy independence. The visit renewed attention to an unusual institutional fact: Russia remains a full member of the project even though the European Union has largely removed Russian public bodies from research funding and sharply reduced scientific cooperation after the invasion of Ukraine.

ITER was launched under a 2007 agreement joining the European Union, Russia, China, the United States and other partners in an attempt to demonstrate fusion at unprecedented scale. Europe bears the largest construction share, while Russia accounts for 9.1 percent and has supplied specialised expertise and equipment. Among the Russian contributions is a large poloidal-field coil used to shape and control plasma inside the experimental machine.

The treaty leaves no expulsion route

The legal structure explains why sanctions have not ended the relationship. In a formal answer to the European Parliament, the Commission said the ITER agreement contains no procedure to suspend or terminate a member's rights. It provides only for a member to withdraw voluntarily. The Commission also said Russia had completed its required in-kind contributions, reducing future operational dependence, while bilateral contacts and procurement from Russia for European supplies had been minimised.

The distinction is important. Continued membership does not mean ordinary EU-Russia research cooperation has resumed, and European sanctions still govern purchases, funding and institutional contacts. The European Parliament has demanded strict enforcement of those restrictions and further reductions in dependence. At the same time, the project's multinational organisation continues to employ Russian specialists and recognise Russia's treaty-defined position.

Fusion becomes a strategic question

ITER is intended to test whether hydrogen nuclei can be fused in a controlled way that produces substantially more thermal energy than is delivered to the plasma. It is not a commercial power plant and has faced delays and rising costs. Nevertheless, EU institutions increasingly present fusion as a possible long-term complement to renewable and conventional nuclear power, making control of expertise, components and intellectual property a strategic concern.

Brussels says ITER's intellectual-property rules give the project access to the knowledge needed for operation without dependence on Russian rights. What to watch is whether sanctions enforcement further narrows day-to-day cooperation, whether Moscow chooses to remain, and whether ITER's revised construction milestones hold. The current development is not a restoration of political ties; it is the visible persistence of a treaty-bound scientific partnership inside a much broader rupture between Russia and the EU.