Finland gave the go-ahead on Thursday 12 April to the construction and use in its territorial waters of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which has been the source of great controversy in the EU.
The Regional Office of Southern Finland approved the permit required for construction of Nord Stream 2 in the Finnish exclusive economic zone. On 5 April, the Finnish government gave its approval to the proposed construction of the pipeline.
At the end of March, Germany lifted the final barriers to the construction and operation of the pipeline in its territorial waters (see EUROPE 11991).
Over the coming months, Nord Stream 2 still has to be granted the final approvals of Russia, Sweden and Denmark. If it is approved in these countries, construction of the pipeline could begin as early as 2018 with the first supply of gas projected for the first quarter of 2020.
The Nord Stream 2 project has put the European Commission and Russia at loggerheads. Alongside Nord Stream 1, which has been in service since 2012, it aims to double gas-carrying capacity by the end of 2019 and to transport more Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, avoiding transit via Ukraine.
The project constructor, Russian gas group Gazprom, has consistently said that the project is a purely commercial venture justified by the expected future growth in European demand.
In the face of the outcry raised by the countries of Eastern and Central Europe since the project was announced at the end of 2015, the Commission has worked hard to ensure that Nord Stream 2 complies in every respect with EU law (see EUROPE 11900).
Through Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany acknowledged this week for the first time the concerns raised by Ukraine over the “political” dimension of Nord Stream 2 and called on Gazprom to maintain the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine at the same time as through the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that link Russia and Germany under the Baltic (see EUROPE 11999). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)