Denmark’s government proposed to amend legislation to enable it to ban the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline construction project, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine with reference to Euronews.

Currently, this type of project can be stopped for environmental reasons. The government of Denmark proposes to allow authorities to also impose a ban based on national security and foreign policy priorities.

As stated by the country’s Ministry of Energy, the pipeline issue should also be deliberated by the European Commission. Presently, Brussels has no formal basis to consider this issue.

The project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, has already sent a report to Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany on environmental impact assessment via Espoo Convention that presents potential environmental trans-boundary impacts of the new gas pipeline project across the Baltic Sea.

The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline passes through the exclusive economic zones or territorial waters of the five countries listed above, making it a subject for the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Trans-boundary Context.

The Nord Stream-2 project objective is to build a gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The route along the seabed, as well as the entry point to the German gas transmission system in Greifswald, has been assumed to be the same route as the first Nord Stream launched in 2011.

In February, this issue was discussed at a meeting of the energy ministers of the EU member states. Poland resumed pressure on the European Commission because of Nord Stream-2.

  Denmark, Nord Stream - 2

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