Amendments To EU Gas Directive May Enter Into Force In Early May - EU Commission

The recently approved amendments to the EU Gas Directive, which will affect the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, may enter into force in the first half of May, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission Dominique Ristori told Sputnik on Tuesday

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2019) The recently approved amendments to the EU Gas Directive, which will affect the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, may enter into force in the first half of May, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission Dominique Ristori told Sputnik on Tuesday.

On Monday, the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research, Telecommunications and Energy (ITRE) overwhelmingly approved a compromise version of the amendments to the EU Gas Directive. The amendments are aimed at extending internal EU rules on energy to offshore pipelines, which would affect the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline expected to carry gas from Russia to Germany.

"Yes," Ristori said, answering a question on whether the amendments may enter into force in early May.

He added that many EU countries, including Germany, would accelerate adoption of the amendments at the national level after they enter into force in the bloc.

To come into force, the compromised version now requires the approval of the whole European Parliament during the plenary session in April, as well as the final approval of the document by the Council of EU countries at the ministerial level. After that the document is to be published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. The EU member states will have nine months to introduce the new rules in their national legislation.