EU has no legal means to stop Nord Stream 2 - Vestager
VILNIUS. Oct 10 (Interfax) - The European Union is not interested in the development of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project but has no legal means to stop it, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager told a press conference in Vilnius.
Vestager said that according to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Nord Stream is not a project of European interest. She said EU did not have the legal means to stop it going ahead, but it did have legal grounds to ensure Nord Stream does not operate in a legal void. If something happens, it would be very good to have an agreement about what to do with the infrastructure, Vestager said.
Lithuania thinks the project, which is led by Russia's Gazprom and involves several European companies, will make Europe more dependent on Russian gas and deliver a blow to Ukraine as a transit country.
The companies want the pipeline to be built along the Baltic Sea bed and to cross Danish waters before making landfall in Germany.
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete said recently that Nord Stream 2 did not correspond to EU energy policy objectives.
Advocates of the pipeline argue that it will bring gas prices in Europe down.