European Commission to Ask EU States' Opinion on Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

The European Commission has invited EU member-states to clarify their stances on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, media report.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – In a letter to the Danish government, obtained by the Danish Politiken newspaper, the Commission stresses that the pipeline cannot operate in a "legal vacuum" and asks Germany, Denmark and other European nations to state their opinions on Nord Stream 2.

The EU Commission will ask European states for permission to start negotiations with Russia in order to reach an agreement on key energy principles that will be applied to Nord Stream 2 within the EU legal framework, commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told Politiken on Wednesday.

Nord Stream 2, a joint venture of Russia’s Gazprom with France's Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, Royal Dutch Shell, Germany's Uniper and Wintershall. An agreement on Nord Stream-2, involving the expansion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, was signed in early-September 2014, during the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Vladivostok. The project includes two pipeline strings, with a total annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas, from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The launch of the pipeline is planned for 2018.