EU Commission registers ECI on phasing out EU imports from Russia and Belarus

Brussels, 29 January 2026Today, the European Commission has registered a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), entitled ‘Stop Funding Russia’s War: Phase Out Harmful and Useless Russian Imports into the EU’. The initiative invites the EU Commission “to propose firm, immediate measures to end the EU’s remaining import dependencies on Russia and Belarus by introducing sectoral bans or decisive phase-outs”. As this initiative fulfils the formal conditions established in the relevant legislation, the Commission considers it legally admissible under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation. The Commission will take a decision on the initiative only if it collects at least one million signatures from EU citizens. Since the beginning of the European Citizens’ Initiative, the Commission has registered 126 initiatives.