The European Union (EU) Court of First Instance has rejected a lawsuit filed by Nord Stream 2 AG - the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, a unit of Gazprom - aimed at challenging some of Europe's internal market rules.
According to Reuters, in the Nord Stream 2 lawsuit, the court affirmed that the EU legislative body did not violate the principle in the case.
The court stressed that Nord Stream 2 AG had deployed and continued to invest in the gas pipeline during a period when the company did not ensure that EU law would continue to facilitate the development of the pipeline.
"Nord Stream 2 AG can see in advance that EU organizations and some member states... will use their authority to expand internal market rules" - the court stated.
Bloomberg confirmed that the owner of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline lost the latest round of legal battles against EU gas market rules. This is a symbolic defeat in court for the now-closed Nord Stream 2 project.
The EU's first instance court said that in its re-examination of the case on November 27, the Gazprom-controlled Nord Stream 2 project should have predicted that the EU would use its bloc's authority to "expand internal market regulations to include gas pipelines from third countries".
Nord Stream 2 AG in Zug, Switzerland, has been suing the EU since 2019 over restrictions on gas import infrastructure operated by direct suppliers.
In 2020, the EU's first instance court rejected the Nord Stream 2 operator's lawsuit, but the bloc's top court later ordered a review of the decision.
While the ruling is a blow to owners of the gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea, it is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the pipeline, which was partially destroyed in September 2022.
Nord Stream 2 AG filed for bankruptcy shortly after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in early 2022. Although plans for Nord Stream 2 remain unfinished, the pipeline could eventually be revived as American businessman Stephen P. Lynch emerges as a potential investor, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nord Stream 2 is designed to transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Germany per year and is ready to begin comprehensive deliveries despite US sanctions.
Approval from the German energy authority and EU officials was the final hurdle for Nord Stream 2, but Berlin withdrew the decision when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 sabotage in September 2022 damaged both Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 branches. The Nord Stream explosion shows the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure and promotes increased military presence in the Baltic Sea.
