German Nord Stream 2 motions sent to economic committee

The German lower house of parliament — the Bundestag — has sent two motions calling for government actions on the planned 55bn m³/yr Nord Stream 2 pipeline to its economic committee for consultation.

The Green Party had submitted a motion urging the government to distance itself from the project and to prevent its completion "through appropriate measures". In contrast, the right-wing AfD party called for the government to express unequivocal backing for Nord Stream 2 and to help with its completion on "national, European and international level".

Both parties had intended for their motions to be voted on directly by the Bundestag. But they found little support for this, with the motions instead passed on to the economic committee for consultation.

Green Party chairwoman Annalena Baerbock said that Nord Stream 2 — which is developed by Russian state-controlled Gazprom — divides Europe, with most EU member states opposed to the project. She said that it should be questioned whether Germany can put trust in a Russian state-controlled firm "in light of an assassination attempt on a Russian citizen and the Russian activities regarding Belarus".

The alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had already previously sparked calls for the German government to withdraw support for Nord Stream 2. And foreign minister Heiko Maas indicated earlier in the month that the government may rethink its support for the project. The Russian government has called for the project to be kept separate from politics.

AfD representative Rainer Kraft said that additional gas supply through Nord Stream 2 is much needed, especially in light of Germany's planned nuclear and coal phase-outs, which will drive more extensive use of gas-fired power plants. Additional Russian supply could lower prices for German consumers, Kraft said.

Manuela Schwesig of the social democratic party SPD said that gas is needed as a "transitional fuel" in Germany's energy transition towards more renewable power generation. And Nord Stream 2 has been subject to a thorough permitting process, Schwesig said.

Schwesig is minister-president of the federal state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern, where Nord Stream 2 would make landfall, and she also called for support for the port of Mukran, which is located in the state. US Republican senators in August warned the port operator that it faces "immediate" sanctions for facilitating construction of Nord Stream 2.

Conservative party CDU representative Jens Koeppen questioned a potential halt to construction from the perspective of sustainability. Given that 97pc of the pipeline has been built, this raises the question of whether this should now "rot away" at the bottom of the sea, Koeppen said.

Some 160km of Nord Stream 2 remain to be laid, after works on the link were halted late last year because of US sanctions targeting pipe-laying firms.

By Stefan Krumpelmann