Earlier, European Union Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias confirmed that representatives of the European Council and the European Parliament had reached an agreement to amend the EU’s gas directive to account for EU-third state pipeline projects like Nord Stream 2.
Commenting on Brussels’ agreement on amendments to the bloc’s gas directive to ensure that pipelines with third countries “comply with EU law,” Suddeutsche Zeitung suggested that Nord Stream 2 had now reached the homestretch, ensuring that the “highly controversial” energy project was all but guaranteed to succeed.
The gas-hungry German government, which needs the natural resource for domestic consumption and stands to benefit from becoming a hub for deliveries further West, had sought to prevent amendments to the rules, saying they threatened to make the project uneconomical.
Nord Stream 2 bypasses traditional transit states such as Ukraine and Poland, and has been criticised by these countries, as well as by the United States, which is hoping to increase sales of its own, more expensive LNG to Europe. US diplomats previously threatened to sanction European companies involved in the project, and claimed that Nord Stream 2 was a “threat” to European energy security. Berlin has denied such arguments, saying that Nord Stream 2 was a purely “economic project.”