UPDATE: EU wants Gas Directive changes come in force before NStream-2 built

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BRUSSELS/SOFIA, Mar 4 (PRIME) -- Amendments to the E.U. Gas Directive should come in force before construction of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline finishes to be applied to it, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Energy Dominique Ristori said in a news conference on Monday.

“We expect them to come in force fast, before the Nord Stream-2 is finished, so the directive will be applied to the project,” he said.

The European Commission is also ready for negotiations with Russia on the project if the E.U. Council issues a special mandate for that requested by the commission in the summer of 2017, he added.

But Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters that the Nord Stream-2 pipeline will not follow the fate of the South Stream pipeline, which was cancelled in 2014 due to unconstructive position of the E.U.

The European Commission put forward amendments to the E.U. gas directive in 2017, suggesting applying the E.U. third energy package to all pipelines that run through the E.U. territory to and from third countries. The bills require non-discriminatory regulation of tariffs and provision of access of third parties to gas pumping.

This means that the pipelines must have an operator independent of Russian gas giant Gazprom, and third parties must receive access to the capacities but only Gazprom can supply gas to the Russian end of the pipeline and is the only company with the right for exports.

The initial draft amendments were changed to make them milder in February in Strasbourg. The milder version of the amendments envisages temporary exceptions for the pipelines built before the changes enter in force.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and France’s Engie.

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