Brussels, 03/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU wants to sign a special tripartate international treaty with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, stipulating legal criteria for the building and running of a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
After visiting Baku on Saturday and Sunday, EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger completed his tour of the Caspian region at Achkhabad on Monday 3 September. This is his third official visit to the region as Energy Commissioner. The aim of the current trip was to make progress in the talks about the future gas pipeline under the Caspian Sea between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which will link up with the Southern Corridor to bring gas from central Asia to the EU. Alongside the question of exactly how much gas is to be supplied, decisions also have to be made about the laws that will govern the Trans-Caspian project. In September 2011, the EU Council of Ministers gave the European Commission a negotiating mandate for an international tripartate agreement between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the legal rules that will cover the building and running of the pipeline to bring gas from the Caspian to the EU. (EH/transl.fl)
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