What goes on in Poland on the 12th of April.
Will Nord Stream 2 omit the gas directive? Discussion of Politico and Naftogaz
Politico and Ukrainian Naftogaz have organized a discussion about the future of energy security. The panelists were arguing about Nord Stream 2 and the relations between the European Union and Russia. Will the project omit the EU law? I am very curious how the Russians will avoid the principle of separation the pipeline ownership from gas transfer company . I hear that they will create a company to manage the German part of the pipeline. I do not know if there is such a plan. If they do, we will investigate whether this is legal, said Klaus-Dieter Borchardt from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER).
Revision of the gas directive allows us to impose all the rules of the Energy Union on new gas pipelines from third countries – reminded the EU official.
In his opinion, we should not lose hope in the progress of the tripartite process between the European Commission, Ukraine and Russia regarding the maintenance of gas supplies through the Ukrainian territory, despite the dispute around Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The next meeting in the tripartite process framework will show whether the Russians want to outplay us and it will be important for the future of Russia-Ukraine and EU-Ukraine relations, he admitted.
We do not intervene on the energy market. We do not tell market participants who they should buy gas from. If they conclude contracts with monopolists from Russia, so be it. We assure you that Gazprom’s dominant impact on our market will not be subject of abuse, explained Borchardt. If the building of the gas pipeline will go counter to our principles, we may ask to exclude it from German regulations, but in this case the Bundesnetzagentur will react first. However, the European Commission will decide whether this project will comply with EU rules, so it will be under its control.
We are implementing a strong monitoring system to control investments on EU territory. The Energy Union has also brought results in terms of security of supply, he concluded. In his opinion, the increase in LNG import from the US by 180 percent to 7.9 billion cubic meters in 2018 can be read as a positive signal from the EU energy market.
This is not a debate about energy security, but about foreign policy and security policy, said Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, member of the European Parliament. The Energy Union is a total failure, because we are not united in response to the pressure from Russia, we will be more dependent on the Russian gas by building Nord Stream 2.