The operators of Nord Stream 2 have to orient themselves to new EU directives. An exemption is not possible, as a court has now decided.
The operator of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 failed with the plan to be exempted from certain EU rules.
In order to enforce this, the company went to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. However, the OLG rejected a corresponding complaint on Wednesday (file number VI-3 Kart 211/20 [V]). The company is therefore subject to current EU rules and has to disentangle its business. The ruling does not have far-reaching significance for the public – for example, it was not about whether and when the pipeline may be put into operation.
The core of the legal dispute was the question of when the pipeline through which Russian natural gas is to be transported to Germany will be considered completed. If this had been before May 23, 2019, Nord Stream 2 could have made use of the exemption. From this date, a modified EU gas directive will apply, which, among other things, makes specifications for the unbundling of gas suppliers and pipeline operators as well as for cost regulation.
The Federal Network Agency had rejected Nord Stream 2 AG’s application for an exemption from regulation. From their point of view, the gas pipeline had not yet been completed by May 2019. Nord Stream 2 AG, however, argued that the line had already been completed from an economic point of view. At that time, irreversible investment decisions were already made for the billion-dollar project or were already being implemented.
The presiding judge Anne-Christin Frister agreed with the network agency. The pipeline was not fully built at the time and therefore not completed in accordance with the law. It is about “a physically fully built or almost completely built line”.
In the dispute, Nord Stream 2 AG can still go to the Federal Court of Justice. The company announced that it would evaluate the court decision and “inform about the next steps in due course”. It also said: “Nord Stream 2 AG is sticking to the fact that the company is being discriminated against in an inadmissible manner, since all other import pipelines that invested before the new regulations came into force have the option of such an exemption under the amended gas directive.”
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
