MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union's member countries will not decide in summer on issuing the mandate to the European Commission for the negotiations on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, a source familiar with the situation told Sputnik on Monday.
"The final decision is not expected by the summer recess, the discussion will continue in September," the source said.
The Nord Stream 2 project presumes the construction of two gas pipelines with a combined annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas. The new pipeline is planned to be laid along Nord Stream pipeline route from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to a hub in Germany. The launch of the pipeline is scheduled for 2017. Shell, Engie, OMV, Uniper and Wintershall are Gazprom's partners on the project.
