Twilight of a German Genius

Last week, the German regulatory energy authorities, of course, managed to surprise virtually everyone. At first, the Federal Grid Agency of Germany on May 15, on an apparently very controversial issue, refused to withdraw Nord Stream 2 from the scope of the EU Gas Directive. And it was, of course, unpleasant, but still expected. After which, less than a week later, on May 20, the regulator freed the first Nord Stream from the same rules in Germany for twenty years ahead and without any additional conditions.

What struck me, it seems to me, even the top management of the Russian Gazprom itself, which absolutely did not expect such an attraction of unheard of generosity in such circumstances, absolutely did not expect.

To make it clear.

The Nord Stream gas pipeline has been removed from the EU Gas Directive, which suggests that, firstly, two different companies must produce gas and transport it. Secondly, now Gazprom without any sly “exceptions” can fill the first pipe to the eyeballs and even a little more (just recall, the project capacity of Nord Stream is 55 billion m³ per year, while the already tested peak capacity is 61.96 billion m³). And this despite the fact that no one has withdrawn similar claims to a completely similar Nord Stream 2.

Here is such an entertaining German jurisprudence.

Yes, it’s German, we’ll just recall: exactly on the same days, the EU court of general jurisdiction still at the pre-trial stage, without any consideration, but simply not accepting the case for production, rejected the claim of the operator Nord Stream 2 AG against the directive that extends the rules The third energy package for gas pipelines coming to the European Union from third countries.

And directly affecting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. That is, in fact, he advised to resolve issues with the same Germany directly, while it is possible.

What is especially characteristic, the European Commission also explicitly suggested that the operator of Nord Stream 2 AG again request FRG to withdraw from the Third Energy Package of the European Union on the basis of a different procedure under the 2009 EU Gas Directive. Moreover, as the representative of the European Commission said, their services will also study with interest the agency’s decision as soon as the document is at their disposal.

Curious, isn't it?

The EC assured that they did not participate in the adoption of the verdict on Nord Stream 2. Which, incidentally, is very similar to the truth: at present, in the European Commission, as it were, to put it mildly, Russia and its Gazprom, of course, have not begun to love.

They just don’t have much to do with it.

It’s still not very clear even how to open the internal borders between the EU states, after the COVID-19 pandemic. And how to build relations along the Brussels-Berlin and Brussels-Washington lines in the new conditions, especially considering the Chinese factor.

And then these muddy German energy lawyers, even with their creative understanding of gas pipelines from Russia. From where, by the way, before that, Brussels threw them in the most diligent way. Now let them understand it now ...

... What is the most interesting here.

Many, including fairly authoritative analysts (the liberal-democratic mainstream, however, they regularly accused them of conspiracy and marginality for this), have long warned: sooner or later, the cold civil war between globalists and national populists, at least in the economic sphere, inevitably should go down to the level of national states.

Here, admire. That is what happened.

If the Federal Network Agency of Germany (BNA) is the legal brain of German energy, then we definitely observe some contradictions in the functioning of its hemispheres, don’t you? And this is not the final yet.

Here, too, just the other day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hinted quite transparently that Russia, of course, is currently quite phlegmatically observing the development of this conflict from the outside (as, apparently, they agreed with responsible people from the European side). But how all this pleasure can end, she already perfectly understands.

We quote.

“Experts - I repeat, this is their opinion - agree that almost all of these options for resolving legal conflicts will lead to higher gas prices for end consumers, for citizens of European Union countries,” Sergey Viktorovich explained at a press conference following the Ministerial Council meeting Baltic Sea States. Moreover, Russia, apparently, is ready for such a turn of events (and the European concerns participating in the project as investors, in any case, have to beat off the 2 billion invested in Nord Stream) and are counting them in one way or another.

The question is different: is the European Union itself ready for this?

No, on the citizens of the European Union countries themselves, on the burghers there, in the higher European bureaucratic structures, everything is already more or less parallel. Otherwise, in such terrifying numbers of all kinds of “refugees” they would at least not have imported them.

But for the European industry, including Germany’s own industry, expensive gas is, if not a death sentence, then it’s definitely a loss of competitive advantages: the European industry is extremely energy-intensive, it compensates for the disproportionately high compared with, say, the United States and China salaries and social packages of its highly qualified and, accordingly, highly paid employees.

But it is also impossible to replace them with the same migrants: firstly, migrants do not want to work corny, secondly, they do not have the necessary qualifications, and thirdly, this is an inevitable social explosion.

But Russia, apparently, has already become tired of resolving these intra-Western problems at its own expense.

And if Nord Stream-2, which Lavrov only confirmed, will be completed in any case before the end of this year (or in the first quarter of next), in accordance with the presidential orders, then all further issues for European consumers of Russian pipeline gas are clearly proposed to be solved independently. And the alarm signal here for European concerns is not even the current icy calm of Moscow in an alarming, in general, situation.

And the final decision made right now on the detailed design of the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline (the Altai gas pipeline as a girl) to the People’s Republic of China.

Which, we recall, is planned to be filled not from the East Siberian resource base, as the first “Power of Siberia” was filled (Chayandinskoye, later also the Kovykta field). And from the West Siberian, from the patient deposits of the Yamal so far: of course, there is still a lot of gas there.

But there, after all, it also rather seriously rests against its Novatek LNG.

In a word, there is something to think about today for our European partners.

They are thinking.

And I have a feeling that they will solve the problem in any way, if necessary, and in a purely patsansky style: in the Bundestag, at least, the activities of their network regulator for Nord Stream-2 were already criticized at a rather high level and tough enough.

And not the opposition, but the German mainstream that’s the most powerful: at least Klaus Ernst, head of the Bundestag committee on economic and energy issues, shared his “concern” in a rather harsh manner. A person, by the way, is usually extremely conservative and cautious in his assessments and preferences.

And this is not surprising - and by the way, this was to be expected: Nord Stream 2, we already wrote, is obviously a European project, built, in fact, with European money. Gazprom, which is constantly being identified almost as the owner of the flow, is just (by no means the only, by the way) co-investor and supplier of raw materials: the role is, of course, an honorable, but not decisive one. And it looks very, admittedly, ridiculous when the interests of European, primarily German, by the way, business, for which Nord Stream 2 is critical, the German Federal Network Agency, is a usual, essentially intrasectoral regulator, albeit with broad powers , - fitting into the globalist political agenda and wanting to please the USA, begins to press so mercilessly.

And - unproductive, admit.

However, German big business is also not defenseless, we hope. Otherwise, the price is worthless to such partners ...

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.