Recital 15

(15) To ensure legal certainty and the orderly phasing out of activities covered by Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, it is appropriate to clarify that the temporary exemption concerning purchases and transfers of LNG destined for third countries should apply only where a purchase is related to a transfer executed by a Union operator. Such transfer should be carried out on the basis of a long-term contract for the supply of LNG, excluding natural gas derivatives, the duration of which exceeds one year, which was concluded before 24 February 2022 and which has not been amended after that date other than for the limited purposes permitted under Regulation (EU) No 833/2014. In addition, the purchase related to that transfer should itself be executed under a long-term contract exceeding one year, concluded before 24 February 2022 and not amended after that date other than for those same limited purposes. Such long-term contract generally must contain all the necessary elements for its validity and the execution of a transaction, such as indication of the parties, price, quantities, delivery dates, point of loading or delivery, modalities of execution. Contracts that regarding such elements require a further agreement between contracting parties do not fall under the temporary exemption, with the exception of amendments regarding the limited purposes expressly permitted under this Regulation, for example concerning operational procedures such as annual delivery programs or any other similar routine operational adjustments. Changes to such elements based on unilateral contractual clauses that cannot be opposed by the other contracting party do not preclude the applicability of the temporary exemption. All other purchases not linked to a specific transfer by a Union operator should be prohibited from 1 January 2027. Since, from that date, such purchases can no longer be lawfully made unless they remain connected to transfers by Union operators falling within the conditions of the temporary exemption, it is clear that the resulting impossibility of performance can be invoked as force majeure for the purpose of terminating existing contractual obligations to the extent that those obligations cannot continue to be performed in relation to transfers executed by Union operators.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-14 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.