Poland appealed the European Court’s decision to increase Gazprom’s pipeline access
The Polish government appealed to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg due to the decision to increase access of Gazprom to the key gas pipeline OPAL, which links Nord Stream with Germany. The European Commission adopted this decision in late October, Polskie Radio reported on December 18, with reference to the official representative of Polish Foreign Ministry, Joanna Wajda.
The decision of Brussels was heavily criticized by Warsaw. The Polish administration stated that it recognizes a threat to the security of energy supplies to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The increase of pumping capacities through the OPAL pipeline will allow the Russian concern to deliver more gas to Europe, bypassing the traditional route via the territory of Ukraine.
“This will result in serious risks related to the security of gas supplies to Poland, making it dependent on one supplier—Russia,” the Spokesperson for Polish Foreign Ministry explained. On October 28, in addition to the already available right to use half of OPAL’s capacity, the European Commission allowed Gazprom to claim the option to pump from 7.7 billion to 10.2 billion cubic meters of additional gas to Europe.
It was decided that from 10% to 20% of OPAL’s capacity should be reserved for other gas suppliers. However, if these capacities remain unclaimed, Gazprom will get a chance to claim them as well.