Morten Helveg Petersen, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, by the end of this year we will have laid down the tracks for the European energy union. These are exciting and ambitious times as the energy union is one of the biggest and most important projects in the history of the European Union. We have to deliver. Why is it that we are creating this energy union? To create a well—functioning energy market, to attract capital, to create growth and jobs, to push the sustainable transition agenda much further – and, not least, to be less dependent on Russian gas and supplies from Mr Putin.

This leads me to the obvious question: where does Nord Stream 2 fit into this context? To me the simple answer is that it does not fit at all. I am fully aware of the fact that we will be dependent, to some degree, on Russian gas in years to come, but bear in mind that Nord Stream 1 is operating at around only half of its capacity today. Therefore I find it very hard to identify any economic, environmental or political arguments for Nord Stream 2. I find it very hard to see any positive perspectives for anyone other than Mr Putin in this.

So far, I do not think that either we, the European Parliament, or the Member States have taken Nord Stream 2 and the perspectives of this project seriously enough. More than anything, we need to conduct a firm geopolitical study on North Stream 2 and the implications of the project. We need the Commission to step up its efforts, ensuring that Nord Stream 2 complies with all our laws and intentions. If not, we risk putting the entire energy union in jeopardy, and that would be a total disaster.