The EU's position on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

20.7.2018

Question for written answer E-004084-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Jiří Pospíšil (PPE)

In May this year, preparatory work officially started on construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will expand the existing Nord Stream pipeline leading from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The project is controversial in several respects, for example by enabling the Russian government to put economic pressure on Eastern European countries by limiting gas supplies through Ukraine and Belarus, or by undermining the EU’s long-term objectives in relation to the diversification of gas imports and the effort to remove dependency on gas coming exclusively from Russia.

1. What is the Commission’s official opinion on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline? 2. Is the Commission not concerned about the strengthening of Russia’s political position vis-a-vis certain EU Member States and the EU as a whole? 3. Is there a competitive alternative, in the Commission’s view, involving the construction of a pipeline to the EU from another region?