BRUSSELS, May 23 Reuters The European Union plans to start jointly buying gas before winter, the bloc39;s energy policy chief said on Monday, as it seeks to cut reliance on Russian fossil fuels and build a buffer against further energy supply shocks.

The European Commission, the EU39;s executive arm, last week proposed a plan for how the bloc could quit Russian fossil fuels by 2027, by speeding up investments in renewable energy and energy savings and switching to nonRussian fossil fuels.

Russia, which supplies 40 of EU gas, since its invasion of Ukraine has cut off supply to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, after they refused to pay for the fuel in roubles.

In an interview with Reuters, EU energy policy chief Kadri Simson said the bloc intended to start jointly buying gas this year, supported by an EU platform launched last month that would pool countries39; demand and coordinate use of infrastructure to import nonRussian supplies.

Joint buying will be voluntary for countries. Analysts have said the scheme could struggle to secure significant volumes from the tightly supplied global market or to launch quickly given the complexity of coordinating between companies, governments and Brussels to make the purchases.

Simson said that by acting together, EU countries could gain access to supply that wouldn39;t otherwise be available.

There are limited gas volumes available in the global market for this year. And some of them are coming to the market only because of the…