Table of Contents
Who should notify ?
Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 in its article 14(6), as amended by Article 11 of the Regulation (EU) 2026/261 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 January 2026 on phasing out Russian natural gas imports and preparing the phase-out of Russian oil imports, improving monitoring of potential energy dependencies and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1938, introduces new obligations concerning the exchange of contractual information related to Russian gas imports for gas undertakings to the European Commission and to the Belgian Competent Authority (= Directorate General of Energy).
What contract information should be notified ?
The information referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of article 14(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 shall be provided no later than 4 March, 2026 and for each contract in a disaggregated format, including the relevant text parts in full, excluding price information, in particular where the full knowledge of the formulation of the contractual provisions is crucial for the assessment of the security of gas supply or where certain contractual provisions are interrelated. For further information see point 23 including footnote 34 in: Guidance (europa.eu)
To whom and through which channels the notification should be done?
With regard to the notification of contractual information to the European Commission, gas undertakings may choose between the following two options:
- Submission via secure email or
- Submission via the CIRCABC information exchange platform.
More details on the process in the document ‘Notification of Contractual Information to the European Commission' (PDF, 61.51 KB).
With regard to the notification of contractual information to the Competent Authority, in order to ensure the secure handling of contractual information, gas undertakings should create a password-protected document. The password-protected document and the password must be sent in two separate emails to importlng@economie.fgov.be. Upon receipt, the Competent Authority will store the file in a secure folder with restricted access and will delete the emails.
Belgian Competent Authority (= Directorate General of Energy) is a different Authority than the Belgian Authorizing Authority (= General Administration of Customs and Excise).
Prior authorisation requests for the import of Russian natural gas should solely be addressed to the Belgian Authorizing Authority (= General Administration of Customs and Excise) by the 18th of February, 2026 (Article 5 Regulation (EU) 2026/261): Vanaf 18 maart nieuwe verplichting: voorafgaande toestemming voor invoer van Russisch aardgas | FOD Financiën
