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June 30, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
EU states split on Commission mandate for Nord Stream 2
struggled to find legal objections to the project, which Central and Eastern European states claim will deepen dependence on Russian supplies, which is widely viewed as a geopolitical risk. The existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55bn cm/y of Russian gas from the Bovanenkovo field in North Russia’s Yamal Peninsula under the Baltic Sea into Germany, avoiding the need for Russia
to use what it regards as hostile transit states Ukraine and Poland.
The EU now appears to have given up on finding
a way to apply its regulations to the offshore section of the pipeline. However, it still has
the power to oversee the link bringing the gas delivered onshore, and appears to hope it can delay the project with red tape long enough to find a way to derail Russian efforts to circumvent the rules after 2019, when new talks over transit are due.
“Just presented our proposal on Nord Stream mandate to EU energy ministers,” EU Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic wrote on Twitter. “First debate showed strong support for our approach.”
However, less than half of the member states stated support for the proposal at the informal meeting, according to Reuters. An official vote is expected in the autumn. The commission’s pro- posal found support from Italy as well as Nordic, Eastern European, and Baltic states, the EU said.
“Baltic and Central European member states are concerned that the EU is becoming far too de- pendent on Russia – which already supplies a third of its gas – and should seek to diversify energy sources. Poland has already attempted to stymie the project by blocking a move to fund it through
a joint venture between Gazprom and its European
energy partners. Western European states, espe- cially Germany, meanwhile argue that the 1,200km pipeline, scheduled to be operational in 2019, will provide Europe with cheap gas,” says Yigal Chazan of business intelligence consultancy Alaco.
Yet many states have yet to take a stand. "It is quite toxic. Many member states are quite wary of ad- vertising their position," one diplomat told Reuters.
The entry of the US into the debate in recent weeks has muddied the waters further. Washing- ton recently raised additional sanctions against Russia over interference in last year’s presidential election. Additional measures announced against Nord Stream 2 provoked fury in Berlin and Vienna, both of whom have major energy companies in- volved in a consortium working on the gas pipe- line to Germany. As well as largest shareholder Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 also comprises ENGIE, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall.
That only widens the EU split on the project, which even within the Central Europe region is also frag- mented.
On the one hand, Poland – which is the most committed hawk on Russia in the EU –called for the suspension of permits for Nord Stream 2 while the bloc deliberates. “It's even more im- portant given that Russia is still subject to EU sanctions,” Polish Deputy Energy Minister Michal Kurtyka said.
However, Poland’s partners in the Central Euro- pean bloc are less committed. Hungary has long been Russia’s closest ally in the EU, and hopes to benefit as a transit state for Russian gas flowing to the Balkans.
The Czech Republic has twin motivations to hope the project is built: the country stands to become a European gas hub as the supplies arriving via Nord Stream 2 would flow directly from Germany to the country. At the same time, Prague has spent the past few years seeking to cement closer ties with Berlin.