Nord Stream 2’s route through the Nordic countries: the legal aspectsĪccording to the plans, Nord Stream 2 (NS2) would run in parallel to two existing lines of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline (NS1) via the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Finland (375 km) and Sweden (500 km), and the EEZ and territorial waters of Denmark (a total of 140 km see Map). On the other hand, neither Stockholm, Helsinki nor Copenhagen wants to use their national laws or the Law of the Sea to block Nord Stream 2, which enjoys support from Germany. All of them have also come under increasing pressure from the United States, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, and domestic opposition parties, which have been demanding the project’s suspension. On the one hand, the Russian-Ukrainian war and the deteriorating security situation in the Baltic Sea region have resulted in more distance towards Russian economic projects in these countries. They find themselves in a difficult situation. As the planned gas pipeline will run through these countries’ exclusive economic zones and/or territorial waters, the governments in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen will have to take a decision on NS2 construction soon. Sweden, Finland and Denmark have seen a revival of the debate on the Nord Stream 2 project in recent months. This is an abbreviated version of their article for OSW.
In addition, Stockholm and Copenhagen in particular want the EU to take a common political stance on the project. But according to the authors the Nordic countries do expect the European Commission to assess the compliance of Nord Stream 2 with the EU’s Third Energy Package. Sweden, Finland and Denmark are unlikely to block or slow down the procedures of issuing national approvals for the construction of Nord Stream 2, write Justyna Gotkowska and Piotr Szymaṅski of OSW, the Centre for Eastern Studies, in Poland. First pipes for NS2 delivered 27 October 2016 to German logistics hub Mukran on the island of Rügen
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