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The EU is mulling potential changes to the Gas Directive in order to gain control over Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, with some of its members strongly opposing the project.
Denmark has introduced legislation which provides an opportunity for the government to restrict the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from going through Danish territorial waters due to security reasons or foreign policy issues, Reuters reported.
Prior to the adoption of the bill only environmental aspects were taken into account when making a decision over granting approval to pipeline construction.
READ MORE: Nord Stream 2 Project Terms, Cost Unaffected by Amendments to EU Gas Directive
Gazprom’s project has met a mixed reaction in Europe. Some EU member states, such as Poland and Lithuania, took a stand against the northern gas pipeline due to concerns over Europe potentially losing its energy independence.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed amending the Third Energy Package, to which the EU Gas Directive belongs, in order to allow third-party access to gas pipelines. This implies that regulations could be extended to future offshore sections of Nord Stream 2 pipeline. At the moment, the Third Energy Package does not apply to offshore sections of gas pipelines.
READ MORE: New EU Legal Norms for Nord Stream 2 Could be Political Discrimination — Lavrov
However, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has made assurances that the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project will not lead to any increase in the EU dependency on Russia, but rather “creates interdependence.”
The Nord Stream 2 project, which plans to use the original Nord Stream pipeline for most of the route before branching off, could transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of direct gas supplies from Russia to the European Union. Its planned route will take it through the Baltic Sea via 139 km of Danish territorial waters as well as the economic zones of Finland and Sweden.
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