"We prepared the Opal decision after careful consideration looking into all aspects of the operation of this pipeline,… all the details regarding the European law and once adopted the decision we did it in full conviction that it is in line with the European law," Sefcovic told reporters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas.
In October 2016, the European Commission expanded Russian energy giant Gazprom's access to the Opal gas pipeline, connecting Europe’s gas transportation network with the Nord Stream pipeline carrying Russian natural gas, by additional 40 percent. However, the European Court of Justice in December suspended the EU approval to give Gazprom more of the pipeline's capacity after an appeal from Poland, claiming that such actions would undermine gas supply security, as well as competition on the EU gas markets.
