EU: Commission gives in to Gazprom power

The European Commission has reportedly given in to Russia gas giant Gazprom regarding a pipeline project that technically breaks EU law, say reports.

Gazprom and EU officials met earlier this month to discuss the project that violated competition law through the company’s agreements made with six EU member states. While recent reports said officials had not yet reached common ground on the matter, reports now say that the EU nations that are hosting the Gazprom project will not have to revise their agreements made with the company.

The project will reportedly service 15 percent of EU’s natural gas demand by 2018.

During their meetings, EU and Gazprom officials reportedly agreed to establish a commission to address the legal and technical issues stemming from the contracts made with member states.

The project was under the Commission’s radar for violating the EU’s “Third Energy Package” rules, which ban both the ownership of a pipeline as well as the oil that runs through it. As Gazprom owns both the gas and the pipeline, the project’s placement within those EU states violates EU competition law.

The European Commission is still probing Gazprom for pricing policies in a separate probe aimed to investigate the company’s market dominance.

Full Content: RT

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