The Gazprom-backed plan to extend the Nord Stream pipeline has caused a political backlash in recent months, making it onto the agenda of the EU leaders’ mid-December summit. CEE countries argue that the scheme to double the capacity of the pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, weakens the EU’s energy security by increasing its dependence on Russian gas, and undermines the Commission’s flagship energy union project. Slovakia and Ukraine would also lose a significant amount of money from transit fees.
Those opposing the project have questioned its conformity with the EU’s third energy package, a set of laws aimed at liberalizing the energy market. Seven EU countries wrote in late November to Maroš Šefčovič, the Commission’s vice president in charge of the energy union, saying that Nord Stream 2 must meet the EU’s “ownership unbundling,” meaning the gas supplier — Gazprom — cannot be the same as the owner of the pipeline.
Ultimately, this legal test proves key. Efforts to derail Russia’s plans should rely less on politics and more on finding ways to prove the project violates EU rules by drilling down into the bloc’s energy and competition law, says Sijbren de Jong to Politico Europe.
The full article can be read here. Polish News website Biznes Alert also interviewed Sijbren de Jong about the Nord Stream pipeline. The article (in Polish) can be found here.