Today, the vast majority of Members of the European Parliament adopted the amendment to the EU Gas Directive that will also apply to pipelines from third countries into the European Union, such as the (German-Russian) Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project of the Russian gas company Gazprom. Since gas production and transmission cannot be under the control of one company, Gazprom will have to relinquish the ownership of the pipeline as it enters the EU territory and open up the use of the pipelines to third parties. New pipelines may be subject to exemptions, but these must be approved by the European Commission and are subject to strict conditions.
Rebecca Harms, member of the Greens/EFA Group in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, supports the unbundling of production and operation to limit the power of the gas giants:
"Gazprom must also comply with EU rules in the future. The unbundling of production and operations will limit the power of the gas giant. This will make the Nord Stream 2 project more difficult and possibly delay it, but it won't prevent it.
The announcement by the Russian Minister of Energy that the gas transit through Ukraine will cease completely once Nord Stream 2 will be operational, shows that the pipeline is a strategic project against Ukrainian interests. The German Chancellor has linked her support for the pipeline project to the condition of the continuation of the transit. The German government must stick to this promise.
The European Union must review its dependence on Russian energy imports. Diversification serves our security and less imports and consumption of fossil fuels is indispensable to achieve our climate goals".
