Tuesday

6th Jun 2023

Germany to keep final say on Russia pipeline

  • New Russian pipeline already being laid in Baltic Sea (Photo: gazprom.ru)

Germany alone will decide whether to enforce EU law on its new gas pipeline with Russia, after France caved in during last-minute talks on the issue.

The legal regime to be imposed on the pipeline, called Nord Stream 2, will come from the "territory and territorial sea of the member state [Germany] where the first interconnection point is located", EU diplomats agreed in Brussels on Friday (8 February).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Nord Stream 2 would concentrate 70 percent of Russian EU gas exports in Germany (Photo: Wikipedia)

Previous wording of the new law on offshore pipelines had said EU single market rules had to be applied on the "territorial sea of the member states".

The redacted wording meant European laws would have automatically covered all offshore pipelines in EU seas.

That would have forced Russian firm Gazprom to surrender its monopoly on Nord Stream 2, destabilising the project's business model.

It would also have legally barred Russia from using it to impose gas cut-offs on Western states, such as Poland and Ukraine, in its neighbourhood.

Leaving Germany the option whether to impose the EU laws on Nord Stream 2 might see Gazprom keep its monopoly.

But a spokesman for French president Emmanuel Macron said Friday's compromise still meant there was "European control".

"The dependence on Russian gas worries us. For that reason, it is important to us to ensure European control so that this dependence does not increase," he said in Paris.

"There is no French-German crisis," he added.

"Regarding the gas directive, we have reached an agreement and this was possible because Germany and France worked closely together," German chancellor Angela Merkel said the same day in Berlin.

The compromise was a climb-down for France, which had indicated on Thursday that it would back the tougher wording on automatic EU rules on offshore pipes.

"The deal received broad consensus," an EU diplomat said, amid preparations to start talks on the final version of the gas law with MEPs.

Opponents of Nord Stream 2 include most eastern EU countries, the Nordic states, and the UK.

Some among them were happy about the Franco-German compromise despite its softer wording.

The new gas directive still gave the EU commission a bigger say in areas other than Nord Stream 2, for instance, on future gas contracts between member states and non-EU countries such as Russia.

Friday's deal also meant the directive was finally moving toward adoption, after France and Germany had blocked it since November 2017.

"For a long time, the positions were quite diverse. Now that there's a compromise, this will one way or another reinforce the commission's [oversight] role," a diplomat from one anti-Nord Stream 2 EU country said.

The deal "allowed some [German] autonomy or specific national interests to be taken into account" on Nord Stream 2, he noted.

But it was "too early" to judge how Germany would wield its privilege, the EU diplomat added, amid divisions on the pipeline in Merkel's government.

Nord Stream 2 is to concentrate 70 percent of Russian gas sales to the EU in Germany.

Its opponents, including the US, say Russia has a track record of using gas-cut offs to "blackmail" its neighbours.

They also say it might embolden Russian aggression in east Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2014, by making Ukraine's EU gas transit pipelines obsolete.

"If we want to have more strategic autonomy in this environment, then why should we make an exception on energy security?," the Nord Stream 2-critical EU diplomat said.

EU leaders recently agreed to aim for "strategic autonomy" in foreign policy and military terms, amid Franco-German plans for joint EU armed forces.

The US has threatened to impose sanctions on Anglo-Dutch, Austrian, French, and German energy firms who co-financed Nord Stream 2.

It has also posted troops as part of a Nato battalion to Poland to deter Russian aggression in wider Europe.

Opinion

How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon

The EU led support for the waste management crisis in Lebanon, spending around €89m between 2004-2017, with at least €30m spent on 16 solid-waste management facilities. However, it failed to deliver.

Latest News

  1. No clear 'Qatargate effect' — but only half voters aware of EU election
  2. Part of EU middle class 'being squeezed out', MEP warns
  3. Migration commissioner: Greek pushback film 'clear deportation'
  4. In 2024, Europe's voters need to pick a better crop of MEPs
  5. ECB president grilled over €135bn interest payout to commercial banks
  6. EU political ads rules could be 'hotbed for retaliatory flagging'
  7. Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law
  8. Top EU court rules Poland's court reforms 'infringe law'

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us