Europe, Russia Set Up Task Force to Proceed With South Stream

Europe and Russia will set up a joint working group to evaluate the South Stream project, with a particular attention to environmental and antitrust laws. The decision stems from the meeting between European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger and Russian Minister Alexander Novak that took place in Moscow on Friday.

“It has been an important meeting,” commented Oettinger on Monday, confirming the mandate of the joint task force.

Earlier Russian and European declarations suggested a similar outcome. 

“South Stream can function normally under European Commission laws,” Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky recently said.

European Commission intervened in the discussion in December, suggesting that Moscow should have formally asked for exemptions.  

Russia has entered into bi-lateral agreements for the construction of the South Stream pipeline with EU members Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, as well as Serbia, which is a member of the Energy Community.

The formation of a task force suggests that the Commission wants to address technical and legal details of the gas pipeline, finding a solution to honour earlier agreements that technically break EU laws.