With almost a third of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany constructed, and a completion date of late 2019, there is growing opposition to the project from within the EU.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, based in Switzerland and funded by Shell and BASF, amongst others. The project is also fronted by former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has come in for heavy criticism in his native Germany and across the EU for his perceived closeness with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Nord Stream 2 stock image. Credit: Ksanawo / Shutterstock
Nord Stream 2 stock image. Credit: Ksanawo / Shutterstock
Once the pipeline is laid, Germany will receive even more natural gas from Russia. The initial concerns raised by Poland, that the project would bypass the pipeline through Ukraine, leaving the country sidelined and open to further Russian aggression, fell on deaf ears in Berlin for some time. It was only when US President Donald Trump began warning of possible German energy dependency on Russia that the issue began to take on a new dimension. The US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, even floated the idea of sanctions if Berlin chose to press ahead with the pipeline.
For its part, the German government are under the belief that US opposition is more about protecting its own business interests, specifically the sale of liquid gas to Germany. Peter Altmaier, the German minister for economic affairs and energy has said that buying from the US is still an option but only at the right price and as a supplement to the country's Russian imports.
Russia's interest in the project is much more strategic. Given the country's dependency on revenues from natural gas exports, the Nord Stream 2 represents not just a major source of income but a promise of political stability at home and much greater influence in Europe. The concerns that either Poland or Ukraine could damage their interests by interrupting the gas supply would be a thing of the past.
Nord Stream 2 is a burgeoning problem for the EU. In 2016, Miguel Arias Canete, the EU energy minister, even said that the pipeline was not in the collective interests of Europe as a whole. The European Commission has been searching for a solution. One of the ideas floated is to make the pipeline an EU project, thus subjecting it to the strict EU competition rules.
Such a decision would involve agreement from the European Council of member states as well as the European Parliament. While the Commission has Poland and other Baltic countries on side, as well as the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Croatia, on the other hand, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria are eager to proceed, given that several businesses in their nations are involved in the project. With so much division over the issue, it is unclear whether a consensus could be reached. And with European elections coming up in May, preceding the formation of a new European Commission probably much later in the year, not to mention Brexit on 29 March losing the Commission a key ally, there is no huge appetite to divide the continent over the issue.
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