EU Gas Directive fully applies to Nord Stream 2 – European Commission president

The EU Gas Directive, which establishes European gas market rules for all pipelines entering the EU from third countries, including in matters of de-monopolization and third party access to their operation, fully applies to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Council President Charles Michel following the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv on Tuesday, October 12, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"As we have repeatedly stressed, the 2019 Gas Directive, the third Energy Package, fully applies to Nord Stream 2. For the Commission, what is clear is that Ukraine remains and must remain a reliable transit country," von der Leyen said.

In early October, Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice, Michal Bobek, recognized Nord Stream 2 AG's right to challenge in court the provisions of the Third Energy Package, the so-called EU Gas Directive.

The Ukrainian government called the current abnormally high gas prices in Europe a lever of pressure from Russia to speed up Nord Stream 2 certification and to remove the pipeline from the effect of the EU Gas Directive.

On September 10, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announced the completion of the gas pipeline built from Russia to Germany bypassing Ukraine on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The only shareholder in the project is Gazprom. The pipeline is currently awaiting certification by the German regulator.

Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States and the United States oppose the project.

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