Brussels, 21/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ceremony marking the enlargement of the Schengen area in Tallinn (Estonia) on Thursday 20 December, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso defended the controversial German-Russian plan for a gas pipeline under the Baltic. “The Nordstream project serves the interests of the European Union and the 27 members must support it. Nordstream is a projects that supports the EU's energy supply needs,” he said, promising that the Commission would keep careful watch to make sure that all environmental concerns during construction are fully addressed. “It is also important to the EU executive to reach political consensus on the pipeline with all EU member states, especially countries like Estonia that are involved in it,” he added. At the end of September, under pressure from conservatives within Liberal Prime Minister Andrus Ansip's governing coalition, Estonia refused to allow a project study to be carried out in its maritime economic zone, thereby inflicting a further setback on Nordstream, which still excites concern and opposition in Finland, Sweden, the Baltic states and Poland, particularly for environmental reasons. The Nordstream consortium, made up of energy companies from Russia, Gazprom (51%), Germany BASF and E.ON (20% each), and the Netherlands, Dutch Gasunie (9%), said in mid-December that it would give a revised estimate of the cost of the project in February or March 2008. According to its initial projections, the 1,200km-long pipeline under the Baltic Sea would cost at least €5 billion. Many analysts believe the real costs to be 60%, and some even 100%, more. “We are most likely to increase the estimated costs of the project in early 2008, after we complete evaluation of four main expense categories, such as pipes, pipe-laying, logistics and environment,” said a spokeswoman for the consortium. (E.H.)