Answer given by Mr Potočnik on behalf of the Commission

16.6.2011

The Commission was informed about the facts mentioned by the Honourable Member through a press release issued by Nord Stream AG on 31 March 2011, entitled: ‘Conservation Foundation German Baltic established’. According to this, establishing the foundation was an outcome that was agreed between Nord Stream AG and the environment associations BUND Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and World Wide Fund (WWF) Germany in spring 2010 in connection with the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline ‘... after it was determined that there were no further specific environmental protection measures that Nord Stream could have voluntarily taken. On the whole, the establishment of the foundation is a logical and consistent complement to the environmental activities that Nord Stream has put in place with regard to the construction and operation of the pipeline within the German stretch of the project’.

The Commission stressed on several occasions that with respect to environmental issues of the Nord Stream project, an appropriate environmental impact assessment (EIA) according to both EU and international law (the ‘Espoo’ Convention of UNECE on tranboundary EIAs) was required under the responsibility of the competent authorities of the States concerned. The Commission ensured that such EIAs as well as specific assessments with respect to nature protection, where appropriate, were carried out according to EU and international law.

This was the case in Germany where additional nature protection assessments were carried out under the responsibility of the competent authorities, including those responsible for nature protection. However, the compensation measures imposed to Nord Stream AG by the national authorities as a result of these assessments were not considered sufficient by the NGOs in question, who decided to bring the case to the appropriate national courts. According to the information available to the Commission, in parallel to the court proceedings, an out-of-court agreement was reached, on the basis of which Nord Stream AG accepted to adopt additional compensation measures to the satisfaction of the NGOs, who subsequently withdrew the case.

Any activity or initiative outside this framework, like the establishment of the foundation in question, is not for the Commission to comment or deal with. Any issues related to possible conflict of interest referred to by the Honourable Member, need to be addressed at the national level, if appropriate, on the basis of the national legislation. The role of the Commission is only to ensure that EU and international environment law are respected and until now there is no reason to believe that this has not been the case.

OJ C 314 E, 27/10/2011