The European Union reached a provisional deal on Wednesday on new rules governing import gas pipelines, casting doubt over the operating structure of Russia’s planned Nord Stream 2.
The Russian pipeline already faces uncertainty after Denmark’s potential ban on its planned route through its territorial waters and sanction threats by the United States. The draft law calls for all import pipelines to meet EU rules by not being directly owned by gas suppliers, applying non-discriminatory tariffs and transparent reporting and opening at least 10 percent of capacity to third parties.
EU Commissioner Arias Canete, who is responsible for energy, said that the EU was closing a loophole as its dependency on natural gas imports increases. Exceptions were only possible under “strict procedures”, the European Commission said, adding it would play a decisive role. “The new rules ensure that EU law will be applied to pipelines bringing gas to Europe and that everyone interested in selling gas to Europe must respect European energy law,” Canete said in a statement.