European Commission receives Naftogaz's complaint against Nord Stream 2

"The complaint concerns the alleged violation of Energy Community law by the so-called Nord Stream 2 pipeline project," the Energy Community Secretariat said.

According to the source, the complaint was transferred on the basis of Procedural Act No 2008/01/MC-EnC of the Energy Community Ministerial Council on the Rules of Procedure for Dispute Settlement under the Treaty, as amended.

This provision requires cases concerning the alleged failure of EU Member States with EU legislation to be dealt with by the European Commission.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia's Gazprom, Shell, OMV and E.On. signed a shareholders' agreement early in September 2015 on a joint project company, which will be engaged in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin in person launched the construction of the Ukhta-Torzhok 2 pipeline, which is designed to pump gas through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to the European Union, bypassing Ukraine.

On November 26, the governments of 10 European countries sent a letter to the European Commission, stating that the construction of the North Stream 2 project was contrary to the interests of the EU. The document was signed by the heads of government of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. They insisted on a thorough check of the gas pipeline project and called for wide debates on the Nord Stream 2 project at the EU summit in December.

European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be thoroughly examined for compliance with the European legislation.