Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says the European Union's attempts to regulate the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project appear to be aimed at complicating its implementation or at forcing Moscow to abandon it.
Medvedev made the comments to reporters on November 14, after the European Commission proposed extending EU internal energy market rules to cover Russia's planned 1,200-kilometer pipeline to transport Russian natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
The European Commission last week proposed new regulations that would introduce common jurisdiction for all gas pipelines entering the EU.
According to the proposed rules, all major gas pipelines entering EU territory would have to comply with the 28-member bloc's rules on transparency, accessibility, and efficiency.
Presenting the new proposals on November 8, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said that Nord Stream 2, which he described as a "controversial project," should not be built in a legal void.
Nord Stream 2 was put on hold in 2015 after several countries criticized the project as deepening Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
"Our approach to the implementation of this project has not changed so far," Medvedev said. "This is not a political tool, this is a regular commercial project aimed at safeguarding Europe's energy security."
State-controlled Russian gas giant Gazprom is set to be the sole shareholder of the Nord Stream 2 project company, although several European energy firms have said they would provide long-term financing for half of the total cost of the pipeline.
