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EU proposals to regulate offshore gas links like Russia`s planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany are still stuck in technical talks. making it more likely they will apply after Nord Stream 2 comes online. if agreed at all.
National governments acting in the EU Council had a technical meeting this month. with another meeting expected before the end of the year. according to an EU diplomatic source.
The longer the technical talks last. the more likely it is that the impact on the 55 Bcm year Nord Stream 2 project will change. as the European Commission`s proposals to amend the EU gas market directive treat existing and new pipelines differently.
Austria. whose national gas company OMV is a financial investor in the 55 Bcm year Nord Stream 2 project. is leading the council debate on whether and how to apply EU internal market rules to offshore gas links with non-EU countries until the end of the year. when the rotating six-month EU presidency passes to Romania.
The European Commission is pushing the Austrian EU presidency `very hard` to get the council to agree the negotiating position needed in order to start talks with the European Parliament on a final common text. according to a senior EC official.
`The file is mature enough to decide on at a political level.` the EC`s internal energy market director. Klaus-Dieter Borchardt. told a Central European Energy Day conference earlier this month.
The EC has also confirmed that the Romanian EU presidency is ready to start talks with the parliament as soon as possible. Borchardt said. The parliament agreed its negotiating position back in March.
The problem for the EC. which is keen to get the proposals adopted and made binding. is that the parliament will stop work in April to prepare for elections in May.
If there is no accord before then. the approval process will have to wait until the newly elected parliamentarians are ready to negotiate again.
If the EC`s proposals were adopted without changes and applied before Nord Stream 2 comes online as planned by the end of 2019. it would be treated as a new pipeline and could be required to submit to transparent. non-discriminatory tariff regulation for the EU section of the pipeline.
If the changes were applied after Nord Stream 2 came online. it would be treated as an existing pipeline and could potentially benefit from a waiver from tariff regulation.
The difficulty is that EC proposals are usually changed during the approval process. so it is impossible to say at this point what the impact will be. or even if the proposals will be adopted at all.
The EC proposals as written would also impact existing EU gas links with North Africa. making them of particular interest to Italy and Spain. as well as Russia`s Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany.
