EurActiv: Oettinger takes lead in legal spat with Russia over South Stream
Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said yesterday (12 December) that the EU executive had accepted to represent the seven countries embroiled in a legal dispute with Russia over the South Stream gas pipeline, stressing that bilateral agreements with Moscow must respect EU law.
Six EU countries have signed inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) with Russia over South Stream - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary and Slovenia. Serbia, which is part of the EU-backed Energy Community, also signed a similar bilateral deal (see background).
Oettinger received the energy ministers of the seven countries involved in Brussels yesterday (12 December) to discuss the way forward after the Commission announced that the bilateral deals were in breach of EU law and had to be scrapped.
Responding to a question from EurActiv after the meeting, Oettinger said ministers had given the Commission a mandate to lead negotiations with Russian counterparts and request “any changes that may be necessary to intergovernmental agreements that have been adopted bilaterally”.
The language used by Oettinger appears to be more diplomatic than words used by one of his own officials, who had previously said that the bilateral agreements were in breach of EU law and had to be renegotiated from scratch.Details from the Bulgaria-Russia IGA disclosed by EurActiv suggest that massive changes to the agreement would be needed. MORE