Backed by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Poland is continuing to lead opposition to the German-Russian Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project, which seeks to double the capacity of the pipeline between Germany and Russia under the Baltic Sea, as Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło made clear it would, after the European Council of 20-21 October.
“We want the Commission to rule on Nord Stream-2. We talked about it at the European Council on Thursday. We feel a change taking place among European leaders. We expect the Commission to enforce EU law. We received the support of the Visegrad countries, the Baltic States and the Balkans countries on Thursday. Our group of countries is growing and I hope that this will encourage the Commission to look into the issue”, stated Szydło.
A week previously, at a summit in Rzeszow, Poland, on 15 October, on gas security in Central and Eastern Europe attended by European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for the energy union Maroš Šefčovič, the presidents of the Visegrad group of countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) restated their opposition to the Nord Stream-2 project, arguing that it was – in the words of Polish President Andrzej Duda, reported by Associated Press – a political project with “no economic justification” that would harm Europe’s ability to create an efficient energy system.
“The position of the Commission is very clear. We have stated that Nord Stream-2 cannot be constructed in a legal framework that lacks clarity. The principles of EU law have to be complied with”, a Commission source told us on Monday 24 October, pointing out that Šefčovič had made this position clear in a speech in the European Parliament on 6 April.
Šefčovič was giving his response to a letter from the leaders of nine Central and Eastern European countries – Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – submitted to the Commission at the spring European Council in mid-March calling on it rigorously to check that the North Stream-2 project was in line with EU law and with its energy security interests (see EUROPE 11515).
“The ball is now in the court of the German authorities. It’s up to the German authorities first of all to assess whether the project complies with the rules of the 3rd package. Then it will be for the Commission to examine [the matter], if an exception to the rules is asked for”, the source told us. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)